94 
THK CONDOR 
Vol. XIII 
was the only representative of the species that I ever saw thereabouts. In autumn 
the Pinyon Jays were most attentive to a small field of squaw corn near the brook, 
and at the base of a pine-clad bluff that was a favorite resort of these birds. They 
attacked the grain while the stalks were standing, as well as when in the shock; 
and in this work they were ably assisted by Blue Jays and Red-headed Woodpeckers. 
As was implied, Pinyon Jays are not generally to be classed as loafers about 
outbuildings, haystacks, and barnyards. But in February of the year 1904, one 
lone individual stayed about my buildings for several days to hunt for grains of 
corn and oats. Sometimes the kernels of corn were swallow’ed entire, and at other 
times he fixed them in crevices of posts and rails, and cracked them with blows 
from his beak, in the manner in which his cousin, the Blue Jay, opens the hazel- 
nuts stolen by him from some shed-roof where they have been put to dry. I was 
able to approach within two or three yards of this bird, whose kind are alw'ays so 
shy — so near, in fact, that I could easily distinguish the whitish feathers of his 
throat. His first appearance occurred immediately following a light fall of snow; 
when this had melted away he disappeared for a few^ days. On the morning of 
February 24, however, a light mantle of snow again covered the surface of the 
earth, and my acquaintance came flying from the pines, and alighted on a post 
near me. Soon I saw him working arvay at an ear of corn, and swallowing the 
unbroken kernels as they were detached. Each time did he come alone — never 
brought a friend to partake of the abundance of his fare. Perhaps he thought it 
not worth while to do so, for he soon tired of his semi-domestication, and came 
no more. 
It seems meet that these birds should dwell in a region so suggestive of 
ancient days. Dimly in the northw^est appear the Black Hills, which were up- 
heaved in a nameless day between Cretaceous and Miocene time. The Bad Lands, 
tnrreted and sculptured by the tireless forces of Nature through a lavish w'aste of 
years, and yielding the remains of strange creatures that lived and loved long 
seons since — these lie to the northwmrd. On the ancient buttes and bluffs, the 
relics and ruins of Miocene deposits, flourish the pines, which belong to a group of 
seed-bearing plants the heyday of whose existence was in the Triassic age, at least 
fourteen million years ago. And among these trees rove the Pinebirds, themselves 
illustrative of things that are past. For they are a link between the crows and 
the true jays — a combination of both — and resemble some ancient bird that \vas the 
common ancestor of the two subfamilies. 
In the region of the Great Plains the Robins ( Planesticus niig'raforiiis) are 
not always the familiar dooryard birds with which we are so w^ell acquainted in the 
east, and elsewhere. If, in the locality of wdiich I wTite, your house is situated 
near the creek, then assuredly you will have these birds always wuth you at the 
proper times. But, living on a treeless hill, about all that you will hear of them 
comes wafted from the groves below, or their soft screech may be heard as they 
pass overhead. Occasionally, one or two will visit your barnyard or lawui in quest 
of something new in the way of diet. While the majority of them migrate, a few 
Robins remain in this region throughout open winters. 
Tree Sparrows ( Spizclla monticola) were familiar visitants to my barnyard in 
winter and spring. They spent much time near the forage-stores, where now and 
then a Snowbird {Jiinco hiemalis, etc.) was to be seen among them. These latter 
are more shy than the sparrows. On the flat, weed-covered valley of Lake Creek, 
Tree Sparrows were more abundant than here, while the Juncos were less so. In 
the spring of 1908, at Lake Creek, among the hordes of sparrows, I saw a solitary 
