PERCHING BIRDS 
477. Blue Jay. Cyanocitta cristata 
cristata. 
Range. — North America, east of the Plains 
and north to Hudson Bay; resident and very 
abundant in its United States range. 
These beautiful and 
bold maurauders are too 
well known to need de- 
scription, suffice it to 
say that they are the 
most beautiful of North 
American Jays; but be- 
neath their handsome 
plumage beats a heart 
Greenish buff as crue i an( j cunning as 
that in any bird of prey. In the fall, winter 
and spring, their food consists largely of 
acorns, chestnuts, berries, seeds, grain, insects, 
lizards, etc., but during the summer months 
they destroy and devour a great many eggs and 
young of the smaller birds, their taste for 
which, being so great that they are known to 
watch a nest until the full complement of eggs 
is laid before making their theft. They nest 
in open woods or clumps of trees, indifferently, in pines or young trees, build- 
ing most often below twenty feet from the ground; the nests are made of twigs 
and rootlets, lined with fine rootlets. During May they lay from four to six 
eggs of a greenish buff color spotted with olive brown. Size 1.10 x .80 
Blue Jay 
477a. Florida Blue Jay. Cyanocitta cristata florincola. 
Range. — Florida and the Gulf coast. 
The nesting habits and eggs of this smaller sub-species are the same as those 
of the northern Blue Jay. Like our birds, they frequently nest near habitations. 
478. Steller’s Jay. Cyanocitta stelleri stelleri. 
Range. — Pacific coast from southern California to Alaska; resident and breed- 
ing throughout its range. 
All the members of this sub-species are similar in 
plumage, having a sooty black head, crest and neck, 
shading insensibly into dark bluish on the back and 
underparts, and brighter blue on the wings and tail. 
They usually have a few streaks or spots of pale blue on 
the forehead. They are just as noisy, bold and thievish 
as the eastern Jay and are also excellent mimmics like 
the latter. They nest in fir trees at any height from the 
ground and in April or May deposit their three to six 
greenish blue eggs which are spotted with various 
shades of brown. Size 1.25 x .90. Their nests are more 
bulky than those of the eastern Jay and are usually made of larger sticks and 
held together with some mud. 
Greenish blue 
478a. Blue-fronted Jay. Cyanocitta stelleri frontalis. 
Range. — Coast ranges of California and Oregon. 
The nesting habits and eggs of this variety are indistinguishable from those 
of the preceding. The bird has more blue on the forehead. 
478b. Long-crested Jay. Cyanocitta stelleri diademata. 
Range. — Southern Rocky Mountains from Arizona to Wyoming. 
No general difference can be found between the eggs of this species and the 
Steller Jay, and the nests of each are constructed similarly and in like situa- 
tions. 303 
