CORVID.E—GARRULIXJE: JAYS AND PIES. 



493 



p. nio'rio. (Lat. morio, a fool; Gr. fiwpos, mows, foolish, silly.) Brown Jay. Siuoky- 

 browu, darker ou head, fading ou belly ; wings and tail with bluish gloss. Bill and feet black, 

 sometimes yellow. Length about IG.OO; wing and tail about 8.00; graduation of latter about 

 2.00; bill 1.25. Eio Grande Valley and southward; not yet actually taken over our border, 

 and not given in the A. 0. U. Lists. 



PI'CA. (Lat. j^ica, a pie.) Magpie.s. Tail extremely long, when fully developed forming 

 more than ^ the total length, graduated for about | its own length ; the feathers with rounded 

 ends, the middle pair at least tapering, and specially lengthened beyond the rest. Bill of ordi- 

 nary corvine shape ; nostrils concealed by long nasal tufts. Wings short and rounded, with very 

 short, narrow, falcate first primary. Feet stout; tarsus little longer than middle toe and claw. 

 Head not crested. A naked space about eye. Plumage black, iridescent, with masses of white: 

 bill black or yellow. Sexes alike. Habits arboreal and somewhat terrestrial, — very irregu- 

 lar, in fact, a Magpie's general char- 

 acter being none of the best, though 

 the generic characters are excellent 

 P. pi'ca hudson'ica. (Of Hud-^on & 

 Bay. Fig. 338.) American Mag- 

 pie. Black-billed Magpie. Lus- 

 trous black, with green, purple, violet, 

 and even golden iridescence, espe- 

 cially on tail and wings. Below, from 

 breast to crissum, a scapular pudi, 

 and a great part of inner webs of 

 primary quills, white; some whitish 

 touches on throat; lower back sho\\ 

 iug gray, owing to mixture of wlnti 

 with black; bill and feet black; e\(- 

 blackish. Length 15 or 20 inche- 

 according to development of tail, w Iik ' i 

 is a foot or less long, extremely giad- 

 uated ; extent about 2 feet; wing about 

 8.00 ; outer primary short, slendei, and 

 falcate; bill 1.25; tarsus 1.67; nndtile 

 toe and claw 1..50. 9 rather smalkr 

 than ^ , but alike in color. W(&tein 

 N. Am. from the Great Plains 1o tlu 

 Pacific, except most parts of Califoi 

 nia, common ; N. to the Yukon valley ; 

 occasionally in the upper Mississippi 

 and Great Lake region even to Onta- 

 rio. The American Magpie is ex- 

 tremely similar to the notorious bird 

 of Europe, and attempts to establish 

 specific characters have failed. It is 

 a rather larger and "bctti'r" bud 

 though quite as luucii of a rascal. 

 The nest is usually jdaced in thickets or shrubbery, more rarely high in trees, and is as big as 

 a bushel, bristling with a cheraux-de-frise of sticks outside, with a lateral covered way leading 

 to the nest proper inside, which is built of finer materials and is of ordinary dimensions, with 

 a cavity about 6.00 in diameter by 4 deep. Eggs 6-9, even 10, usually 7; commonly 1.20 to 



