The California Jays 



Although such an 

 industrious creature 

 when he, or she, isn't 

 "settin' ", the jay's 

 flight is slow and 

 labored. Extensive 

 flights are never 

 undertaken, and it 

 would probably be im- 

 possible for a Cali- 

 fornia Jay to fly from 

 the mainland to the 

 Farallones, for ex- 

 ample. 



The time of year 

 or the nature of the 

 season has a good deal 

 to do with the jay's 

 activities, and 

 especially with the 

 publicity thereof. As 

 the time of its own 

 nesting approaches, 

 the jay falls silent, 

 and the adroitness 

 with which this bird 

 will let himself be for- 

 gotten, is truly amaz- 

 ing. The birds may 

 be nesting in your own 

 front yard; and now that you think of it, you do recall having seen the 

 male bird pottering about on two or three occasions. But as for the 

 California Jay of fame, he is dead. But when the birds have got by 

 with it, when the youngsters, fullfledged, have joined the piratical push, 

 and especially after the mid-summer molting season, then look out for 

 noise! Caution is thrown to the winds, and the world becomes a vast 

 screeching-ground, made only for jays to practice in. 



The "Blue Jay," too, is a faithful chronicler of wet and dry. When 



the face of nature has become parched, when great heat fissures appear 



in the dobe soil, and when the cattle are quarreling feebly for a little 



wisp of last year's straw, the jay, too, falls silent. Dust is a poor lubricant 



for even raucous throats, and what villain could exult in such universal 



drought? 



49 



Taken in San Luis Obispo County Photo by the Author 



JAY COUNTRY 



THE "DIGGER" PINE IS A CHARACTERISTIC TREE OF THE SOUTHWESTERN 

 COASTAL RANGES 



