APHELOCOMA. 357 



e^ Sides of head uniform bright blue, like crown, etc. ; breast 

 deep brownish gray, changing rather abruptly to pure 

 white on belly and lower tail-coverts ; back and scapulars 

 dark slaty gray, strongly tinged with blue. 



Adult : Chest light grayish blue, broadly streaked with 

 white (as in A. calif ornica) ; superciliary streak very 

 indistinct, or obsolete ; length (skin) about 11.50, wing 

 5.40, tail 5.70, exposed culmen .95, tarsus 1.60. Hab. 

 " Mexico" (locality unknown). 



A. cyanotis Ridgw. Blue-eared Jay.' 



b\ Tail shorter than wings. 

 c\ Tail 5.50, or less. 



Adult : Above bright light azure-blue, including whole side of 

 head, down to throat, the back and scapulars dull grayish blue, 

 or plumbeous ; chin and throat dull white, deepening into dull 

 light brownish gray on breast, this again fading into pure 

 white on lower belly and under tail-coverts; length (fresh) 

 11.50, wing 5.80-5.90, tail 5.30-5.40 (graduated for only about 

 .30), culmen 1.05-1.10, tarsus 1.60. Hab. Lower Eio Grande 



Valley, and southward. 



A. couchi (Baird). Couch's Jay.'* 



c^ Tail more than 5.50. 



d^. Tail even, or very slightly rounded. 



Colors of A. couchi ; length 13.00, tail 7.00. Hab. " Mexico." 

 A. ultramarina (Bonap.). Ultramarine Jay.^ 



d^. Tail decidedly rounded. 



e^. Colors of A. couchi, but rather paler above, the chest rather 

 more decidedly ashy, and throat more grayish; length 

 about 11.50-13.00, wing 6.10-6.50 (6.34), tail 5.65-6.10 

 (5.80), graduated for .50-.60, culmen 1.00-1.08 (1.02), tarsus 

 1.58-1.66 (1.60). Nest a loose, frail structure of dry twigs 

 and rootlets, built in small trees. Eggs 2-5, 1.17 X -84, plain 

 greenish blue, very similar in color to those of the Eobin 

 {Merula migratoria). Hab. Northwestern Mexico, and con- 

 tiguous portions of Arizona and New Mexico. 



482. A. sieberii arizonae Eidgw. Arizona Jay. 



e'. Colors much darker and brighter than in A. arizoncB, the back 



more or less strongly tinged with azure-blue (sometimes 



almost uniform with head, etc.) ; length about 11.50-13.00, 



wing 6.70-7.40 (7.06), tail 6.30-6.75 (6.58), culmen 1.00-1.08 



1 New species ; type, No. 8465, U. S. Nat. Mus. ; " John Taylor, Esq., Mexico, Sept. 1836." 

 « Cyanocilta couchi Baird, B. N. Am. 1858, 688 ; ed. 18G0, pi. 60, fig. 2. Aphelocoma couchi Sharpe, Cat. 

 B. Brit. Mus. iii. 1877, 116. 



3 Corvus nltramarinus BoNAP., Jour. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phil. 8vo, iv. 1825, 387. Aphelocoma ultramarina 



Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. iii. 1877, 115. 



