The Steller Jays 



had it not been for the zealous 

 proclamations of these birds. 

 One April morning, in the hinter- 

 land of Santa Barbara, where 

 Steller (Blue-fronted) Jays were 

 not supposed to exist, I stopped 

 the "Jolly Ellen" and turned 

 aside into a dense thicket, where 

 a crested jay was vociferating. 

 Arrived at the published spot, 

 I saw nothing whatever, and sat 

 down, grumbling, to await possi- 

 ble developments. Presently, 

 through a dim, sequestered aisle 

 in the lower growth I saw a 

 "bob-cat" crouching and re- 

 garding me through narrowed 

 slits. The jay was right, after 

 all, and I apologized. 



Be sure, also, that the jay 

 is keeping tab on your own 

 movements. If he is feeling 

 hilarious that morning, and he 

 usually is, he will greet the ex- 

 plorer boisterously; but if he 

 "has his doots," he will trail 

 after silently in the tree-tops, 

 "takin' notes" instead. Upon 

 discovery the Steller Jay sets up 

 a great outcry and makes off 

 through the thickets shrieking 

 lustily. A favorite method of 

 retreat is to flit up into the lower 

 branches of a fir tree, and, keep- 

 ing close to the trunk, to ascend 

 the succeeding limbs as by a 

 spiral staircase. The bird, in- 

 deed, takes a childish delight in 

 this mad exercise, and no sooner does he quit one tree-top than he dashes 

 down to a neighboring tree to run another frenzied gamut. Upon a 

 less strenuous occasion it is worth while to note the manner of that 

 descending flight. A considerable space is to be crossed. The jay 



Taken in Rive 



ide County 



A SILHOUETTE 



Photo by the Author 



6? 



