tary localities for
their habitat. The fact is, I rarely made an excursion anywhere without
sooner or later discovering that these jays had pre-empted the place for
feeding or breeding purposes, sometimes with loud objurgations bidding
me be gone, and at other times making no to-do whatever over my
intrusion. Perhaps the proximity or remoteness of their nests was the
chief cause of this variableness in their behavior.

A pretty picture is one of these jays mounting from branch to branch
around the stem of a pine tree, from the lower limbs to the top, as if
he were ascending a spiral staircase. This seems to be one of their
regulation habits when they find themselves under inspection. If you
intrude on their domestic precincts, their cry is quite harsh, and bears
no resemblance to the quaint calls of the eastern jays; nor does the
plaintive note of the eastern representative, so frequently heard in the
autumnal woods, ever issue from any of the numerous jay throats of the
West.

Far be it from me to blacken the reputation of any bird, but there is at
least circumstantial evidence that the long-crested jay, like his
eastern cousin, is a nest robber; for such birds as robins, tanagers,
flycatchers, and vireos make war upon him whenever he comes within their
breeding districts, and this would indicate that they are only too well
aware of his predatory habits. More than that, he has the sly and
stealthy manners of the sneak-thief and the brigand. Of course, he is by
no means an unmixed evil, for you will often see him leaping about on
the lawns, capturing beetles and worms which would surely be injurious
to vegetation if allowed to live and multiply.

There are other jays in the Rockies that deserve attention. The Rocky
Mountain jay--_Perisoneus canadensis capitalis_--is a bird of the higher
altitudes, remaining near the timber-line all the year round, braving
the most rigorous weather and the fiercest mountain storms during the
winter. Although not an attractive species, his hardiness invests him
with not a little interest. One can imagine him seeking a covert in the
dense pineries when a storm sweeps down from the bald, snow-mantled
summits, squawking his disapproval of the ferocity of old Boreas, and
yet able to resist his most violent onsets.

[Illustration: _The Rocky Mountain Jay_

"_Seeking a covert in the dense pineries when a storm sweeps down from
the mountains_"]

Early in April, at an altitude of from eigh