Evening star., 1949-11-16
This and That
By Charles f. TyaceweH

Blood brother to our local blue jay is the
California jay, as we are reminded by E. K. H.
of Charlottesville. Va. who writes:
II, like you, love the blue jays, and this
summer. in California, was delighted with
their jays, so like ours in habit but quite
different in looks-or rather coloring."
It is said that the Jay birds out there Will
even steal eggs out Of hens nests.
Sometimes they have been seen to peck
chicks on the back Of the head, but this is
something other large birds will do, at tlmeSs
too, notably the grackles.
In all such cases, the hen has its nest on
the ground, a careless habit some farmers
get into with their poultry. M ~
Or they permit them to roost in trees at
night, where they are easily picked OF by
snakes, etc.
The blame in most cases must be partly on
the owners as we'll as upon the marauders.
The California jay is slightly larger than
our own blue jay.
Its upper parts are blue and brownish
gray, and it's lower parts, white.
The head has no crest.
They are pretty birds. Of sort OF cobalt
blue. with some brown and some mouse-gray
feathers.
The young are uniformly mouse gray. with
some darker gray, and some white.
Distribution of this species is the Pacific
Coast district north of the San Fernando. San
Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, to
southwestern Washington, and east to. and
including the eastern slope Of the Sierra
Nevada and Cascade Ranges
Jays constitute branch of the crow
family, and have many similar traits.
They are more brightly colored than
crows but are smaller.
Each jay, as each crow, is character.
Every one who has watched birds for any
length of time comes to realize this.
The observer will find, too, that the classi-
fication of both crows and jays as "song-
birds" is justified, not only on their possession
OF the proper number OF vocal chords four
OR more) but also because OF the quality OF
their voices.
Ordinarily we do not think of the crow
as songbird, but now and then we hear
one whose melodious cav, cav, cav strikes
chord In our own hearts
\
AS for our own blue jay, that rascal has
many sweet notes. -t..
Sometimes the unknown bird in the bush,
whistling so softly, is jay. AT other times,
especially in spring, 1t may be some old
startling.
Our blue jays have surprising range Of
tones, from the raucous, as when they shout
at some other bird, to the soft cooling noises
they make to each other.
The California jay more closely resembles
our jay than the official description OF its
coloring would make one think.
It has been charged with robbing other
bird nests of eggs and young, and 1t, too,
has been observed by others to be entirely
peaceful and decent in its relations with
the world.
Those who admire jays are likely to feel
that just some specimens are bad, not all
jays, and they probably are right.
Both in the bird and human worlds, the
old characterizations of all-pure and all-evtl
are seen to have been too sweeping We see
more clearly today that there are grades
and grades, and actions and actions and
that no character is completely one way. but
combines both good and evil to some extent.
Lack of crest on the California jay gives
it an odd appearance, at least for jaybird.
There is very large jay on the Island OF
Santa Cruz. It is species all by itself. The
other California jays" are Belongs jay
and Xantus' jay, the one darker blue. the
other very pale.
California jays are charged with stealing
fruit, scarcely sin-except to fruit raiser.
Prunes, apricots and cherries are the
favorites. Worst months for the fruit grower
are June through August.
Other fine jays are Steller,s. the Florida
Jay and Woodhouse's jay. all crestleSS; the
Arizona Jay Ancrcsted; the green Jay or the
Rio Grande, also without crest; and the
saucy Canada jay or Whiskey Jack, as 1t is
sometimes called. It, too. y crestless.