The Santa Cruz Jay 



by reason of excessive competition? Quien sabe? But he is a very 

 gifted bird; and I warrant he makes a merry hullabaloo after the ban 

 of silence, which affects all Blue Jays in the nesting season, is lifted. 



The Santa Cruz Jay nests early. The last week in March is the 

 height of the season, counting always by fresh eggs. We have found them 

 as early as March ioth. For nesting sites the California live oaks are 

 leading favorites, but the birds nest indifferently throughout the scrub 

 (It is hardly considered proper to speak of "chaparral" on this island, 

 because the sheep keep the lesser undergrowths cleaned out) to the tops 

 of the ranges. Manzanita, Christmas berry, holly-leaf cherry, ironwood, 

 mountain mahogany, scrub and Wislizenus oaks, and Monterey pines, 

 all serve as hosts, therefore, with little preference save for shade. Nests, 

 although bulky, sometimes being as large as a crow's, are placed at 

 moderate heights, usually from eight to twelve feet; and are, habitually, 

 so well made that they may be lifted clean of their setting without injury. 

 The jays evidently 

 have assigned beats, 

 or ranges, of mutual 

 adjustment, and 

 they are very loyal 

 to a chosen locality 

 at nesting time. 

 Thus, the nests of 

 succeeding years 

 are grouped in a 

 single tree, or 

 scattered narrowly 

 in a small section 

 of the scrub. 



It is in the uni- 

 form coloring of the 

 egg that the Santa 

 Cruz Island Jay 

 most surely reveals 

 its isolation, and its 

 consequent inbreed- 

 ing. The ground 

 color of fresh eggs 

 is a beautiful light 

 bluish-green 

 (microcline green), 

 and this is lightly 



ESHsSbSKeSESssS 



Taken on Santa Cruz Island 



Photo by the Author 



A NESTFUL OF SANTA CRUZ JAYS 



61 



