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5 8 THE CONDOR [ Vol. II California .lay Again. Mr. Taylor's remarks about "A Provi- dent Bluejay" in the March number of the CON90R may be supplemented by some observations which perhaps will prove interesting to some of our read- ers. The theory that the Jay buries the nut so that it will acquire a mouldy or wormy flavor is hardly tenable. A nut buried in this manner, if sound, will not become eitl?er wormy or mouldy, but will soften' up and finally sprout. Whether the bird prefers the softness or the actual sprout is hard to. deter- mine, but the fact that the Jays, both the .41She/ocoma and C),anocitta of this coast, will pull up grain, peas or corn after it has sprouted, while they but sparingly pick up any loose kernels ly- ing upon the surface, proves that they delight in either the softness of the grain or in its sprouted state. I have had acres of peas that were sown in the end of March to be cut green for feed when large enough, practically de- stroyed by these birds. In fact, unless watched or poisoned, they have some- times pulled up nine-tenths at least of the peas. Yet they do not do this ev- ery year, some seasons not doing any damage at all. It seems to depend on xvhat other food supply may be obtain- able at the time. I remember one spring when a patch of about an acre and a half was sown with a mixture of peas and oats, and the peas were pulled up as fast as sprouted, by the jays, so that the crop consisted of oats alone. In this instance the land was bordered by a growth of trees that made a fine shelter to which the birds could retreat when disturbed. I shot over forty in one afternoon on this occasion and a good many on suc- ceeding days, but they soon became so wary that it was intpossible to get an- ot.h.er shot after one was killed, and yet the crop was destroyed. Some years they destroy a lot of corn, and other years almost none. But to show that Mr. Taylor is partly right about a wormy flavor being pleasing, I have.found that if there are wire xvorms in a field of corn the jays, if they pull the corn at all, will choose the sprouted kernels that hre pierced by and contain a worm. At times, however, they xvill pull the corn and eat the sprouted ker- nels when no wire worms are present in the field. As the corn coming through the ground shows no indication of worms at the period in which it is pulled up by the birds, it is hard to guess how they know which are infest- ed and which not. I have proved that they do know how to select by shooting a number in an infested field and in- variably finding that they have chosen only wormy grains. This year the Jays, in conjunction with Toxvhees, Juncos and a few Flick- ers, badly damaged some late sown oats beside the house. I watched them with glasses from the porch. They would dig away with their bills a little earth from the stalk where it just showed through, get a good grip and pull. If the stalk broke they would try the next one. When the whole plant came up by the ro?)ts they would jump to the nearest lump of earth and pick the ker- nel out of the husk, leaving husk, roots and stalk lying on the lump. There were no worms in this grain at all. Shooting one occasionally Would cause them all to fly to the nearest trees, but they would be at it again in a few min- utes, with some on watch. Grain on the surface might have lain there a long time and they would only peck at it a little once in a while. All this proves that they want their grain in a soft or sprouted state. On the other hand, I have seen Jays time and again carry off pieces of bread or bis- cuit from the yard and bury them in the grass on a hillside, keeping this up as long as the supply continued. As the bread is soft enough in the first place this must be done either to pre- serve it for future use or, as Mr. Taylor suggests, perhaps for the purpose of de- veloping wornis.