248 • STELLER'SJAY. 



being by no means an arctic bird. It is again met with in the southern 

 parts of Africa, near the Cape of Good Hope, and is not uncommon all 

 along the eastern coast of that continent. In Switzerland, and other 

 mountainous countries, it is of very rare occurrence. 



GARRULUS STELLERL 



STELLER'S JAY. 



[Plate XIII. Fig. I.] 



Corvus stelleri, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 370, Sp. 27. Lath. Ind. p. 158, Sp. 20. Nob. 

 Suppl. Syn. Birds U. S. Sp. 63, his, in Zool. Journ. Lond. v., p. 2. Id. in App. 

 Gen. N. A. Birds in Ann. Lye. N. T. p. 438. — Garrulus coronatus? Swainson, 

 Syn. Birds Mex. Sp. 67, in Phil. Mag. N. S. i., p. 437, old bird? — Garrulus stel- 

 leri, ViEiLL. Nouv. Did. d'Hist. Nat. xii., p. 481. — Geai de Steller, Daud. Orn. 

 II., p. 248. — Steller's Crow, Penn. Arct. Zool. Sp. 139. Lath. Syn. i., p. 387, 

 Sp. 21. Id. 2d Suppl. viii., p. Ill, Sp. 8. Id. Gen. Hist.-ui., p. 56, Sp. 58. 



To the enlightened liberality and zeal for science of that distin- 

 guished collector, Mr. Leadbeater of London, we, and the American 

 public, are now indebted for the appearance of the first figure ever 

 given of this handsome Jay. Trusting his precious specimens twice to 

 the mercy of the waves, he confided to us this, together with several 

 other still more rare and valuable North American birds, Avhich no con- 

 sideration would have induced him to part with entirely, to have them 

 drawn, engraved, and published on this side of the Atlantic. It is 

 the frequent exercise of similar disinterestedness in the promotion of 

 scientific objects, that has procured for Mr. Leadbeater the distinction 

 with which he is daily honored by learned bodies and individuals. 



The Steller's Jay is one of those obsolete species alluded to in the pre- 

 face to this volume. It is mentioned by Pallas as having been shot by 

 Steller, when Behring's crew landed upon the coast of America. It 

 ivas first described by Latham from a specimen in Sir Joseph Banks' 

 collection from Nootka Sound, and on his authority has been admitted 

 into all subsequent compilations. The species is indeed too Avell char- 

 acterized to be doubted, and appears moreover to have been known to 

 I'emminck, as it is cited by him as a true Jay in his " Analysis of a 

 •Tcneral System." Nevertheless, adhering strictly to our plan of not 

 admitting into the Ornithology of the United States any but such as 

 we had personally examined, we did not include this species either in 

 our Catalogue, or Synopsis, of the birds of this county ; and it is but 

 recently that Mr. Leadbeater's specimen has enabled us to add it to our 

 list. 



