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(‘l{0\\'S, JAYS, E'l‘t'. 2 5 nal to his companions, breakfasting in a near-by oak or chestnut, “ Here, here, here‘s some fun!” and the poor, blinking Owl he has discovered looks helplessly at the blue‘coated mob, whose uproar alone is terrifying. Suddenly there is absolute silence; every Jay has dis- appeared. Some one of them has seen you, and not until your silence reassures the band will they return to the sport of teasing}r their victim.

The Blue Jay is both a mimic and a ventrilotpiist. Besides an in- exhaustible stock of whistles and calls of his own. he imitates the notes of other speeies. notably those of the Red-shouldered, Red-tail, and Sparrow Ilawks.

4773.. C. c. florincola l'mtm‘. FLoiznu BLI'E JinxASimilar to the preceding speeies, but smaller. the upper parts somewhat grayer. the white tips to the feathers narrower. [hose on the outer pair of tail-t'eathers generally less than 100 in width. In. 1W7); \\'.. 1."); '1'., too; 13., '06.

Range—Florida and Gulf coast region to Texas.

Blue Jays in Florida are much more familiar than our Jays at the north. They are common inhabitants of towns with live-oaks, and hop about the fences and gardens with all the domesticity of the Robins on our lawns. It has always seemed to me that the Florida birds were possessed of greater vocabularies than their northern brethren.

The Macro: (475. Plea pie/z Inuismu’erz‘u inhabits western North America; st‘agglers have been recorded from as far east as Montreal and Illinois.

4'79. Aphelocoma floridana. (If/(rm). FLORIDA JAY. ;1«,Z.—Top and sides of the head and neek, wings and tail, grayish blue; baek pale brownish gray: under parts dirty white. obseurely streaked on the throat and breast: sides of the breast and faint breast—lumd grayish blue. L., “'50; W., 4'45; T ,. to; 1%.. ‘. .

[rung/(Ami?loridu: of loeal distribution, ehietly along the coasts, between lat. 27° and So”,

Nest. of stieks and roots lined with weeds and rootlets. in bushes. Eggs, four, olive—green spotted and blotehed with blaek. 1'17 x '75 tMaynard).

:5

“ The Florida Jays are noisy birds at all times, and the first inti- mation whieh one receives of their presence is a harsh scream which is given as a note of alarm. As they usually move in flocks, this cry is taken up by others. and soon the scrub for many rods around will be resounding with these peculiar sounds. \Vhen undisturbed they feed on the ground or in bushes. but. upon the approach of an intruder, they will mount the highest. point available, where they remain until driven away. They are not usually shy. and will allow one to ap- proach them quite closely. but when one or two are shot the survivors usually disappear. . . . They will glide through the bushes with re- markable rapidity, never once showng themselves, or, if they have an