CROWS, JAYS, MAGPIES, ETC. 



277 



GENUS XANTHOURA. 



483. Xanthoura luxuosa glaucescens Bidgw. Green Jay. 



Adults. — Tliroat and sides of head jet black, in sharp contrast to pale 

 green or yellowish green of under parts ; top of head and malar streak 

 bluish purple, Avith touch of white on forehead ; rest of upper parts bluish 

 g-reen, usually extensively tinged with pale blue ; tail with middle feathei-s 

 bluish green, outer feathers pale yellow. Young : similar, but duller, head 

 greenish blue instead of purple ; upper parts apple green without bluish 

 tinge ; under parts buffy, faintly tinged with green. Length: 11-12, wing 

 4.40-4.80, tail 5.10-5.80. 



Distribution. — From Valley of the Lower Rio Grande in Texas south to 

 Vera Cruz and Puebla. 



Nest. — Concealed in thickets, made of thorny twigs sparingly lined with 

 rootlets, moss, grass, and hair. Eggs : usually 4, grayish, greenish, or 

 buffy, marked with lilac and brown, massed around the larger end. 



GENUS PERISOREUS. 



General Characters. — Head not crested ; plumage soft, full, and loose ; 

 bill short and wide at base, nostrils exposed ; wings and tail about equal, 

 tail graduated. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Whole top of head white capitalis, p. 277. 



1'. Top of head black except for white forehead. 



2. Back broAvnish obscurus. p. 278. 



2'. Back gray. East of Coast and Cascade ranges . . griseus, p. 279. 



484a. Perisoreus canadensis capitalis Bidgw. Rocky Moun- 

 tain Jay. 



xldults. — Top of head white shading to dark gray on back of neck : rest 

 of upper parts light slate 

 g-ray ; tail tipped with white ; 

 throat whitish ; rest of under 

 parts brownish gray. Young : 

 top of head dull white, tinged 

 with grayish ])rown. Lf^nqth : 

 11.25-lo*.00, wing 5.U0-0.:;(>. 

 tail 5.8()-0.;]5, bill .U7-1.0S. 



Distribution. — From Brit- 

 ish America south to Arizona 

 and New Mexico in the 

 Rocky Mountain regions. 



Nest. — As described by 

 Dr. Brewer, of pine twigs 

 holding a compactly woven 

 inner nest of stems, plant 

 fibei-s, feathers, bark, and down, placed on the horizontal branch of a 

 pine 40 fct't from the ground, containing .) eggs, grayish white blotched 

 with purplish l)n)\\ ii. in two, only around the larger end, in one, over the 

 entire t"f^<:;. 



Food. — Meat, insects, acorns, and whatever oflFers. 



Tlu' Rocky Mountain jay, like the other species of the Pcrisort'tis 

 genus, is notoriously a camp birtl. As it lives all the year in the deep 



