Description

John Cassin (1813-1869)
Plate 28, ThePrince Maximilian’s Jay
From: Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian America
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1856
Chromolithograph
Paper dimensions: 7 x 10 “
Framed dimensions: 12 x 21

With text below image:
The Prince Maximilian’s Jay is named after its discoverer by American ornithologists in 1841. It also goes by the name pinion jay. It is a large crow-like jay, dull blue in color, with a short tail, slender bill, a raucous voice, and not easily overlooked in its woodlands it calls home. Unlike other jays, it is highly social, and congregate by the hundreds within a hundred feet of the woodland canopy. This bird nests in pairs from late February to April in nests built in pinion, juniper, or ponderosa pine trees.