BIRDS — COKVinAE — GARRULINAE. 



575 



Specimens vary considerably in size. Tims No. 8488, from Fort Mapsaclmsetts, marked 

 female, is 11.50 inches long ; tlie wing C ; the tail 4.80. The color, too, is of a more intense 

 blue throughout. 



List of specimens. 



Catn). Six. 

 No. 



Lociility. 



Wbea collected. 



8488 

 8466 

 8468 

 4466 '.... 



Fort Mass. N. M 



Mimbrcs to Eio GrnnJe. 

 95 mis. W. Albuquerque. 

 Des Cluit«s basin, 0. T.. 



Mar. 28, 1856 



Nov. 16, 185.S 



Whence obtained. 



Ur. Peters 



Ur. T.C.Henry. 

 Lt. Whipple... 

 Lt. Williamson. 



Orig. 

 No. 



14 



Collected by- 



Length. 



11.25 



Kenn. & MiiU.. 

 •J. S. Newberry. 



Sub-Family GARRULINAE. 



Oil. — Wings short, rounded ; not longer or mucli shorter tlian tlie tail, which is graduated, sometimes excessively so. Winga 

 reaching not much beyond the lower tail coverts. Bristly feathers at base of bill variable, liill nearly as long as the head, or 

 shorter. Tarsi longer than the bill or than the middle toe. Outer lateral claws rather shorter than the inner. 



The preceding diagnosis may perhaps characterise the garruline birds, as compared with the 

 crows. The sub-divisions of the group are as follows : 



A. Nostrils moderate, completely covered by incumbent feathers. 



a. Tail very long. 



Pica. — Tail excessively graduated ; nearly twice as long as the wings. 

 attenuated, falcate. Head without crest. 



First i)rimary 



h. Tail about as long as the tuing, or a lilile longer. 

 Cyandrus. — Head crested. Colors of wing and tail blue, banded with black. 

 Cyaxocitta. — Head without crest. Color above blue, with a grey patch on the back. 

 Perisoreus. — Bill .scarcely half the head, with white feathers over the nostrils. Plumage dull. 

 Xanthoura. — Head without crest. Color above greenish ; the head blue ; lateral tail feathers 

 yellow. 



B. Nostrils very large, naked, uncovered by feathers. 



PsiLoRHiNus. — Head smooth ; tail broad ; wings two-thirds as long as the tail. 

 Calocitta. — Head with a recurved crest ; wings less than half as long as the tail. 



There is a very close relationship between the jays and the titmice, the chief apparent difference 

 being scarcely anything else than in the sf?e. The feathers at the base of the bill, however, in 

 the jays are bristly throughout, with lateral branches reaching to the very tip. In Pai-idae 

 these feathers are inclined to be broader, and the shaft projecting considerably beyond the basal 

 portion, or the lateral branches confined to the basal portion, and extended forwards There is 

 no naked line of separation between the scutellae on the outer side of the tarsi. The basal joint 

 of the middle toe is united almost or quite to the end to the lateral, instead of half way. The 

 first primary is usually less than half the second, instead of rather more ; the fourth and fifth 

 primaries nearly equal and longest, instead of the fifth being longer than the fourth. 



