107 



STELLER'S JAY. 



Garrulus Stelleri, Gmel. 

 PLATE CCXXX.— Adult. 



Of this Jay, discovered by Steller, whose name it bears, Dr. Richard- 

 son states that it "is not uncommon in the summer time on the Pacific coast 

 of America, from the mouth of the Columbia to the 56th parallel. It also 

 frequents the Rocky Mountains, where Mr. Drummond procured a speci- 

 men. In its manner it greatly resembles the Garrulus wistatits." Mr. 

 Nuttall's account of it is as follows: — 



"We first observed this bird in our western route in the Blue Mountains 

 of the Columbia, east of Wallah Wallah. Here they were scarce and shy, 

 but we met them in sufficient abundance in the majestic pine forests of the 

 Columbia, where, in autumn, their loud and trumpeting clangour was heard 

 at all hours of the day, calling out djay, djay, and sometimes chattering and 

 uttering a variety of other notes scarcely recognisable as distinct from the 

 calls of our common Blue Jay. They are, however, far more bold, irritable, 

 and familiar. Watchful as dogs, a stranger no sooner shews himself in their 

 vicinity than they neglect all other employment to come round, follow, peep 

 at and scold him, sometimes with such pertinacity and irritability as to 

 provoke the sportsman intent on other game to level his gun against them in 

 mere retaliation. At other times, stimulated by mere curiosity, they will 

 be observed to follow you in perfect silence, until something arouses their 

 ready ire, when the djay, djay, pay, pay, is poured upon you without 

 intermission, till you are beyond their view. So intent are they on vocife- 

 rating, that it is not uncommon to hear them busily scolding even while 

 engaged with a large acorn in the mouth. Of their geographical limits we 

 are as yet uncertain. They were first found by Steller at Nootka; but 

 they do not extend into upper California, and scarcely to the west as far as 

 the most western of the true Rocky Mountain Chains. They feed on 

 insects, acorns, and the seeds of the gigantic pines which form a belt along 

 the Pacific and the rivers of the Oregon Territory. In the month of May, 

 I found a nest of this species in a small sapling of Douglas's Fir, on the 

 borders of a dark and dense forest, and again some time after a second nest 

 with young, in an elevated branch of the same pine, on the border of a rocky 

 cliff. On approaching the nest, which contained four eggs, of a pale green 



