14 
THE CONDOR 
I Vol. IV 
to be a fairly constant one, I have made 
use of it for several reasons. The main 
point of difference between the two 
notes is, not in the notes themselves so 
much as it is in the manner in which 
they are made use of by the birds. For 
instance the danger notes of the valle}^ 
quail {Loplwrtyx californiciis vallicolus) 
consist of an emphatic and very rapid 
repetition of several notes, the arrange- 
ment of the notes varying somewhat 
even with each bird 
In the notes themselves there is noth- 
ing extraordinary, but their difference 
from common notes lies in their being 
used by the birds only on extreme occa- 
sions. From this point of view the}^ 
can be called special notes. This will 
give an idea of their distinct nature and 
it seems reasonable, in studying both 
kinds of notes, to keep this distinction 
in mind, even if the difference is of an 
arbitrary kind. 
% 
The Pinyon Jay. 
T he pinyon jay {Cyanocephalus 
cyanocephalus) occurs liberally and 
is resident in this, the central part 
of Utah. You must not think that he 
is to be found everywhere, but should 
you have occasion to travel through the 
forests of cedar and pinyon pine you 
may find him in astonishing numbers. 
I have observed this jay more frequent- 
ly in Cedar and Rush valleys than else- 
where; these valle5^s are perhaps 15 by 
40 miles each in extent and for the 
most part are sagebrush deserts. Along 
their borders are patches or growths of 
scrub cedar, and in the hills surround- 
ing them are plentiful numbers of the 
pinyon pine. 
vSome time ago I was watching a flock 
of Audubon warblers in one o^' the cedar 
forests when a flock of perhaps 100 pin- 
yon jays suddenly came along, alighting 
all about me but hardly staying long 
enough to make mention of it. Then, 
one after another, along they went, 
flying almost from tree to tree, each 
seemingly trying to outdo his compan- 
ions in the matter of harsh, discordant 
notes. 
In its nesting habits this jay is er- 
ratic. I have found a single nest with 
no others about, even after a diligent 
search; then again I know of a moun- 
tain mahogany fairly full of their nests, 
some nearly touching each other. I 
would classify their nesting as usually 
en colony. They nest preferably in 
some coniferous tree such as pinyon 
pine, scrub pine, scrub cedar or juniper, 
but may also be found in mountain ma- 
hogany and sometimes in brushy thickets. 
They are not beautiful birds, being 
somewhat between the ashy slate-blue 
of Woodhouse and the beautiful blue of 
the black-headed variety, — yet as 3?ou 
see them restless and roving, going 
through a cedar patch, they offer a 
kindl}^ contrast to the otherwise quiet 
and peaceful locality. 
Their habits are very similar to 
Clarke crow, as is doubtless also their 
food, and I have usually found both 
birds in the same localities except in 
breeding season when Clarke crow 
seeks loftier altitudes and earlier 
months in which to propagate its kind. 
The eggs of both species are somewhat 
similar and might be confused in cer- 
tain cases. The pinyon jay is also 
called “camp robber” along with the 
Clarke crow and I have often been led 
astray when hunting for the rare eggs 
of the latter, because of the former 
bird being iiieant by my kindly-dis- 
posed friends. The pinyon jay will 
often hop right into your camp where 
he finds crumbs, and he does not al- 
ways draw the line at certain light ar- 
ticles convenient to the table and com- 
fort of the campers. This kleptomania 
seems common to the nature of the 
Canada and pinyon jaj^s, as well as to 
the Clarke nutcracker. 
H. C. Johnson. 
American Fork, Utah. 
