CORVID.E — Till: CKOWS. O'^g 



well-niai'l<('il and easily defiiicd races of one primitive species, the grada- 

 tion from one I'orm to the other being very regular, and agreeing with the 

 general variation attendant njion geogra])hieal ilistribution. Tims, begin- 

 ning with C. stclkri, we have the anterior part of head and body, in- 

 cluding interscapular region, black, without any markings on the head. In 

 frontalis the back is lighter, and a glossy blue shows on the forehead. 

 In macrolopha the blue of posterior parts invades the anterior, tingeing them 

 very decidedly, leaving the head black, with a Ijlue shade to the crest; 

 the forehead is glossed with bluish-wliite ; the upper eyelids have a white 

 spot. In coroiiuta the blue tinge is deeper, and piervades the entire body, 

 except the side of the head. The shade of blue is different from macrolojjha, 

 and more like that of stclkri ; diademata, intermediate in habitat bet\\-een 

 ■macrolopha and coi-onata, is also intermediate in colors. The tail becomes 

 rather more even, and the bill more slender, as we proceed from stclkri to 

 coronata. The bars on the secondary coverts become darker in the same 

 progression. 



Cyanura cristata, Swainson. 



BLTTE JAY. 



Corvus cristatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, (lOtlicJ.,) 17JS, 106 ; (12th ed.,) 1766, 157.— Gmelin, 

 Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 369. — Wilson, Am. Oni. I, 1808, 2, pi. i, f. 1. — Bon. Obs. 

 Wilson, 1824, No. 41. — Douohty, Cab. N. H. II, 1832, 62, pi. vi. — AuD. Orn. 

 Biog. II, 1834, 11 ; V, 1839, 475, pi. cii. Garrulus criitatJL% " Vikili.ot, Encyclop. 

 890." — Ib. Diet. XI, 477. — Bon. Syn. 1828, 58. — Sw. F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 293. 



— ViEiLLOT, Galerie, I, 1824, 160, pi. cii. — AuD. Birds Am. IV, 110, pi. ccxxxi. 



— Max. Caban. .1. 1858, VI, 192. Pica cristata, Waglek, Syst. Av. 1827, Pim, No. 8. 

 Ci/anurus crista/ us, SwAixso.v, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, App. 495. — Baikd, Birds N. 

 Am. 1858, 580. — Samuels, 364. — Allen, B. E. Fla. 297. Cyanocorax cristcdus, 

 Bon. List, 1838. Cyanocitia cristata, vStuickland, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, 261. — 

 Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 221. Oymwgarrulus crislahis, Bon. Consp. 1850, 376. 



Sp. PriAR. Orost abnnt one third loiifror than tlic bill. Tail much graduated. General 

 color above light purpli.'fh-Vilue; wings and tail-leathers iiltramarine-blue ; the secondaries 

 and terlials, the greater wing-coverts, and the exposed surface of the tail, sharply banded 

 with black and lu-oadly tipped with white, except on the central tail-feathers. Beneath 

 white; tinged with purplish-blue on the throat, and with bluish-brown on the sides. 

 A black crescent on the forepart of the breast, the horns passing forward and connecting 

 with a half-collar on the back of the neck. A narrow frontal line and loral region black; 

 feathers oh the base of the bill blue, like the crown. Female ratiier duller in color, and 

 a little .smaller. Length. 12.2.5; wing, 5.6.5; tail, 5.75. 



Hab. Ea.stern North America, west to the Missouri. Northeastern Texas (Dresser, 

 Ibis, 18G5, 494). North to Red River and Moose Factory. 



Specimens from north of the Tnited States are larger than more southern 

 ones. A series of specimens from Florida, brought by Mr. Boardman, are 

 quite peculiar in some respects, and probably represent a local race resident 

 there. In these Florida sijeciinens the wing and tail are each an inch or 



VOL. II. 3') 



