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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 marauders are too well known to need description, suffice it to say that they are the most beautiful of North American Jays; but beneath their handsome plumage beats a heart as cruel and 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, building 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.
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 breeding 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 mimics 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.
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 situations.
[Ill.u.s.tration 305: Blue Jay.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Greenish buff.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Greenish blue.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: right hand margin.]
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[Ill.u.s.tration 306: Dr. J. B. Pardoe. YOUNG BLUE JAYS.]
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[Ill.u.s.tration 307: BLUE JAY.]
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478c. BLACK-HEADED JAY. _Cyanocitta stelleri annectens._
Range.--Northern Rocky Mountains from northern Colorado to British Columbia.
The eggs of this sub-species cannot be identified from those of the other varieties. Like the others, their nests are made of sticks plastered together with mud and lined with weeds and rootlets.
478d. QUEEN CHARLOTTE JAY. _Cyanocitta stelleri carlottae._
Range.--Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia.
479. FLORIDA JAY. _Aphelocoma cyanea._
Range.--Locally distributed in Florida.
All the birds of this genus have no crests or decided markings, are white or grayish below, and more or less intense blue above, with the back grayish or brownish blue. This species is 11.5 inches long, has a pale blue crown and a nearly white forehead. It has a very limited distribution, being confined chiefly to the coast districts of middle Florida, and very abundant in some localities and rare in adjoining ones. They build shallow structures of small sticks and weeds lined with fine rootlets and placed at low elevations in bushes or scrubby trees.
The three or four eggs, which are laid in April or May are dull greenish blue, marked with olive brown. Size 1.00 x .80. Data.--t.i.tusville, Fla., April 17, 1899. Nest of sticks in a scrub oak, five feet from the ground.
480. WOODHOUSE'S JAY. _Aphelocoma woodhousei._
Range.--United States west of the Rockies and from Oregon and Wyoming to Mexico.
This species has the crown and forehead bluish, and the underparts gray, streaked with bluish gray on the breast. It is also larger than the last, being 12 inches long. They are very abundant in the Great Basin between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas, breeding during April or May in scrubby trees or bushes at low elevations and generally near streams.
They lay from three to five eggs of a dull bluish green color, spotted with umber and lilac gray. Size 1.08 x .80. Data.--Iron County, Utah, May 3, 1897. 4 eggs. Nest of sticks and weeds in a small pine tree.
[Ill.u.s.tration 308: Florida Jay.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Greenish blue.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Bluish green.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: 480-487.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: left hand margin.]
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480.1. BLUE-EARED JAY. _Aphelocoma cyanotis._
Range.--Interior of Mexico north to the southern boundary of Texas.
The nesting habits of this species are the same as those of the others of the genus and the eggs are similar but the markings are generally more prominent and larger. Size 1.10 .80.
480.2. TEXAS JAY. _Aphelocoma texana._
Range.--Southeastern Texas.
It is not likely that the eggs of this species differ essentially from those of many of the others.
481. CALIFORNIA JAY. _Aphelocoma californica californica._
Range.--Pacific coast of California and Was.h.i.+ngton.
