PIÑON JAY. Cyanocephalus cyanocephalus (Maximilian)

Field characters.—One-third larger than Robin. Tail shorter than body. Coloration entirely pale blue; lighter, grayish blue, on under surface. No white markings any where, and no crest. Voice: A high-pitched, querulous, nasal kä'-e, with descending inflection, given singly, or repeated in series.

Occurrence.—Common in the arid region east of the Sierra Nevada. Observed around Williams Butte and Mono Craters, September 16 to 22, 1915, and near Sand Flat, June 7, 1916. Ranges at times widely beyond nesting area, as instanced by flock seen over Indian Cañon above Yosemite Valley, October 11, 1914. Frequents sparse forest or open country; roves about in flocks of varying size.

The Piñon Jay is altogether different in many respects from all the other members of its family found in the Yosemite region. Structurally it differs from both the fiat-headed (California and Woodhouse) and crested (Blue-fronted) jays in possessing a longer and more slender bill, smaller head, longer wings, and shorter tail, while its coloration is much paler blue and more uniform. This bird lacks entirely the white markings that render the Clark Nutcracker so conspicuous. In mode of life the Piñon Jay exhibits strong sociable proclivities at all times of the year, traveling about in large flocks during the fall months and even assembling in companies of moderate size to forage during nesting time. It is also a habitual wanderer, and ranges widely both within and beyond its normal habitat, the piñon belt of the arid Great Basin.

In behavior the Piñon Jay is quite the opposite of the California Jay, for it is calm and deliberate in movement rather than excitable and fidgety. The former is dignified and slow to arouse. We have been astonished, on occasion, by the seeming indifference displayed by Piñon Jays even when one of their number had met with violence.

As is suggested by its name, the Piñon Jay is a close associate of the one-leafed nut pine or piñon. This tree, in the Yosemite region, is to be found in numbers only in the vicinity of Williams Butte and Mono Lake. When we visited that section in the fall of 1915 Piñon Jays were encountered almost daily. On September 16 a large flock was seen feeding in the piñons on Williams Butte. The birds were calling back and forth among themselves in high-pitched, querulous tones of voice, giving one the impression that separate conversations were going on among many individuals. Next day near the same place a flock numbering between 30 and 40 birds swooped past one of our party with a loud swish of wings and came to rest momentarily in some sagebrush and Kunzia fully a mile from any real trees. Other bands were seen up until September 22, when we quitted the neighborhood of Mono Lake for the season. On October 11, 1914, a vagrant band of four of these birds was seen and others were heard passing over the upper reaches of Indian Cañon above Yosemite Valley.

The roving habit of the Piñon Jay and its colonial nature are probably both related to the marked preference of the bird for the seeds of the piñon, which, for most of the year, form the staple article of its diet. The crop of these nuts varies from place to place and from year to year; so that the jays must move about in order to find adequate sustenance. In this search for food, the flocking tendency plays an important part, as many eyes are better than two when the food supply is widely scattered. In this respect the habits of the Piñon Jay recall those of the Band-tailed Pigeon.

Seeds of other pines are eaten when obtainable. An adult female Piñon Jay collected on September 20, 1915, on the Mono Mills road close to one of the Mono Craters had its throat crammed with seeds of the Jeffrey pine, 28 by actual count. Since the cones of that tree were just opening, the bird's were afforded ready access to this source of supply. The query arose as to whether the seeds in this jay's throat had been gathered to feed her young which were to be seen near by, still in juvenal dress though fullgrown, or whether she had intended to cache the seeds somewhere against a time of want during the on-coming winter.

On June 7, 1916, three families of Piñon Jays, with young barely able to fly, were seen near Sand Flat, south of Mono Lake. The young birds were being fed grasshoppers by their parents. The diet of the species is thus varied to include insects, wherever this source is readily available.