The Pinyon Jay 



call note. While feeding on the ground they keep up a constant chat- 

 tering, which can be heard for quite a distance, and in this way often 

 betray their whereabouts. 



"It is an eminently sociable species at all times, even during the breed- 

 ing season, and is usually seen in large compact flocks, moving about 

 from place to place in search of feeding grounds, being on the whole 

 rather restless and erratic in its movements; you may meet with thou- 

 sands in a place to-day and perhaps to-morrow you will fail to see a single 

 one. It is rarely met with at altitudes of over 9,000 feet in summer, 

 and scarcely ever in the higher coniferous forests; its favorite haunts are 

 the pinyon-covered foothills of the minor mountain regions, the sweet 

 and very palatable seeds of these trees furnishing its favorite food during 

 a considerable portion of the year. In summer they feed largely on 

 insects of all kinds, especially grasshoppers, and are quite expert in 

 catching these on the wing; cedar and juniper berries, small seeds of 

 various kinds, and different species of wild berries also enter largely into 

 their bill of fare. A great deal of time is spent on the ground where they 

 move along in compact bodies while feeding, much in the manner of 

 Blackbirds, the rearmost birds rising from time to time, flying over the 

 flock and alighting again in front of the main body; they are rather shy 

 and alert while engaged in feeding. I followed a flock numbering several 

 thousands which was feeding in the open pine forest bordering the Kla- 

 math Valley, Oregon, for more than half a mile, trying to get a shot at 

 some of them, but in this I was unsuccessful. They would not allow me 

 to get within range, and finally they became alarmed, took wing, and 

 flew out of sight down the valley." 



Although breeding within our borders to the number of thousands, 

 perhaps tens of thousands, it is a matter of amused record (Oct. 1918) 

 that no occupied nest of the Pinyon Jay has ever been reported for 

 California. Why sigh for Africa or Alaska with such unexploited fields 

 at home! An observer in Utah, Mr. H. C. Johnson 1 , testifies that in 

 its nesting habits this jay is decidedly erratic. Sometimes it nests 

 singly, but oftener en colonic While they nest preferably in some 

 variety of conifer, pinyon, scrub cedar, juniper, and the like, they occur 

 also in the mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius Nutt.), or even 

 in brushy thickets. One mountain mahogany he knows of that is "fairly 

 full of nests, some nearly touching each other." Evidently the "Native 

 Sons" have been caught napping. 



'The Condor, vol. IV., p. 14. 



