THE CONDOR 
42 
I Vol. IV 
toward stelleri, and in the same way we find a bird from Victoria tending toward 
carbonacea. 
In view of the excellent material at hand, and as it will probably be some 
time before a series of specimens can be procured from the 
DESCRIPTION OF out-of-the-wa}’ type locality, I have thought it advisable to 
Cyanocitta stelleri append a description of a bird from Coniox, which is on the 
stelleri. east side of Vancouver Id. in the same latitude as Nootka 
Sound. 
Cyanocitta stelleri stelleri. (Omeliti) Steller Jay. 
Type of Diagnosis, 5 ad., Coll. U. S. Nat. Mus. 151375; Coniox, Vancouver Id., B. C., 
June I, 1895; collected by E. W. True and D. W. Prentiss; orig. No. 18. 
Back, scapulars, about half lesser wing coverts, and head warm slate black; crest black, fore- 
head on each side very slightly streaked with blue; the feathers of throat with mesial parts light 
mouse gray so as to give throat a lighter shade. Abdomen, sides, flanks, under and upper tail 
coverts, dull Antwerp-verditer blue, darker on chest. Tertialsand dorsum of tail Berlin blue, 
barred with black. Wing 147 mm,, fail 134, exposed culmen 32, bill from nostril 24, tarsus 48. 
This bird is essentially like the Sitka examples. 
The Steller jay and its races are confined to the wooded districts of the Cana- 
dian and Transition zones of the west. They are preemin- 
DiSTRiBUTiON. ently birds of the coniferous forests, and are rarely found out 
of them, except during their short winter rambles. So far as 
known the bird does not migrate any great distance, but simply comes down from 
the inclement regions of the mountains, during the midwinter months, in search of 
food. Cyanocitta stelleri stelleri is characteristic of the Canadian Sitkan District, en- 
tering the rather boreal Humid Transition on the shores of Vancouver Id. and ad- 
jacent regions of Washington. Cyanocitta stelleri carlottce is confined to the 
Queen Charlotte Is., which resemble the mainland coast. Cyayiocitta stelleri car- 
bonacea is typically a bird of the Pacific Coast Transition Faunal Area (Humid 
Transition) south of the Columbia R., ranging into the dilute Canadian of the 
coast of northern California and Oregon, and to a limited extent into the Arid 
Transition and Canadian. Cya7iocitta stelleri frontalis is characteristic of the 
greater part of the forested Arid Transition and Canadian of California. 
Most of the birds from western Washington are intermediate between 
carbo7iacea and stelleri but close to stelleri. In fact it is dif- 
AREAS OF ficult to find two birds just alike from Washington. Speci- 
mens from eastern Washington 2 ,^^ aimectens. Near the cen- 
INTERGRADATION. tral portion of the state it is probable one would find a mix- 
ture of stelleri, a7i7iectens and carbo7iacea. The only speci- 
men I have seen from just east of the Cascades (Goldendale) is unfortunately 
young and not diagnostic. A bird from Ft. Simpson, B. C. (on the coast) has 
strong a7i77eciens characters; one from Sumas, B. C. (near the Wash- 
ington boundary) is typical a7inecte7is, whereas a specimen (pro- 
bably a migrant) from Clinton, B. C. (in the interior) is stelleri. In the coast 
region of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, California, carbo7iacea in- 
tergrades with a small form of frontalis which ranges over the mountains of 
northern Lower California, and of Southern California south of the Tehachapi. 
In suitable localities in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Monterey counties, 
intergradation doubtless occurs toivard the i7iterior with typical frontalis, which 
ranges westward through the Tehachapi Mts. In Northern California intergrada- 
tion undoubtedly occurs (from indications of specimens at hand) in the inner coast 
ranges (western Lake, eastern Mendocino counties, Yallo Bally, Bully Choop 
Mts., and ‘Shasta Mts’.), and in the mountains of northern Shasta, eastern Siskiyou, 
and Modoc counties. The Mt. Shasta jay is intermediate but close to carbo7iacea. 
The bird from Ft. Crook in the northeast corner of Shasta Co. is rather nearer 
