In the consideration of the vertebrate food of the blue jay we are confronted with the problem of the destruction of wild birds and their eggs. Special search was made for every possible trace of such material in the stomachs, and in 6 of the 530 were found the remains of wild birds or their eggs. In February two jays had killed a small bird apiece; in May one had robbed a nest of eggs; in June two had taken a small bird and a clutch of eggs, respectively; and in August another had robbed a nest As this trait of the jay appears to be most pronounced during its own breeding season, it is quite possible for many birds which have suffered from its boldness early in the season to raise another brood unmolested. Thirty-nine of the 530 jays examined had fed on hen's eggs. Much of this food, however, was picked up about rubbish heaps, to which the jay, like other members of the crow family, is partial. While the result of stomach analysis would appear to belittle this fault of the blue jay, it is doubtless quite characteristic of the bird under favorable conditions. Complaint that the jay is the source of considerable damage to corn in the fall has been verified to a certain degree by stomach examination. This grain is taken in every month of the year, but in greater quantities during winter and early spring, when much of it is necessarily waste, and it forms about 18 per cent of the yearly food. Cultivated fruits of various kinds are eaten from June to the end of the year, and the 15 per cent taken in July apparently justifies complaints against the bird on this score. The favorite vegetable food of the blue jay is mast of various kinds, acorns predominating, but beechnuts, chestnuts, chinquaquins, and hazelnuts also are relished. This food is important in every month but July and August, the yearly average being over 43 per cent, and from October to March it constitutes about two-thirds of the diet. Occasionally harm is done by feeding also on cultivated nuts, as pecans. Wild fruits are eaten during the summer and fall and constitute about 7 per cent of the yearly sustenance. The blue jay probably renders its best services to man in destroying grasshoppers late in the season and in feeding on hibernating insects and their eggs, as it does in the case of the tent caterpillar and brown-tail moth. Such forest insects as buprestid beetles and weevils of various kinds also fall as its prey. The blue jay's vegetable food, with the exception of some cultivated fruit and corn in the fall, is largely neutral. The severest criticism against the species is the destruction of other birds and their eggs. Where we wish to attract birds in large numbers about our dooryards, in our parks, and in game preserves, it will be well not to allow the jays to become too abundant. PACIFIC COAST JAYS. In California and adjacent States two species of jays are much in evidence under several more or less well-marked forms.