CORVID^ — CROWS AND JAYS. 333 



Ish, the wings and tail not barred; beneath light grayish or dull whitish (in some Mex- 

 ican species wholly blue underneath). 



Perisoreus, Plumage exceedingly lax and "fluffy." Bill very small, scarcely half the 

 length of the head. Color mainly dull grayish. 



Genus PICA Brisson. 



Pica Beisson, Ornithologia, 1760, ii, 35. Type, Corvus pica Linn. 



"Gen. Char. Tail very long, forming much more than the total length; the feathers 

 much graduated; the lateral scarcely more than half the middle. First primary falcate, 

 curved, and attenuated. Bill about as high as broad at the base, the culmen and gonys 

 much curved, and about equal; the bristly feathers reaching nearly to the middle of the 

 bill. Nostrils nearly circular. Tarsi very long; middle toe scarcely more than two 

 thirds the length. A patch of naked skin beneath and behind the eye. 



"The peculiar characteristic of this genus, in addition to the very- 

 long graduated tail, lies in the attenuated, falcate fii'st primary. 

 Calocitta, which has an equally long or longer tail, has the fu-st 

 primary as in the Jays generally (besides having the nostrils ex- 

 posed)." {Hist. N. Am. B.) 



The American Magpie (P. pica hudsonica) belongs to a circum- 

 polar species (P. pica) which in the various parts of its range is 

 differentiated into more or less strongly marked geographical races. 

 Many ornithologists do not admit the subspeciiic distinctness of the 

 American bird, and the differences from the European (typical) form 

 are indeed shght in some specimens, though easily recognized in the 

 majority. 



A probably distinct species (P. nuttalli), confined to California, 

 differs in having the bill and bare suborbital space bright yellow 

 instead of black. 



Pica pica hudsonica (Sab.) 



BLACK-BILLED UAGFIE. 



Popular synonym. American Magpie. 



Corvus pica WiLS. Am. Orn. iv, 1811, 75, pi. 35, fig. 2 Inec Linn.)— Sw. & Rich. F. B.-A. ii, 



1831, 292.— NUTT. Man. i, 1832. 219.— AUD. Orn. Biog. iv, 1838, 408, pi. 357. 

 Corvus hudsonicus Sabine, App. Franklin's Voy. 1823, 25, 671. 

 Pica hudsonica Bp. 1838.— Baied, B. N. Am. 1858, 576; Cat. N. Am. B. IS-W, No. 432. 

 Pica melanoleuca \a,r. hudsonica Coves. Key, lg72,16i; Check List, 1873, No. 233; B. 



N. W. 1874, 211. 

 Pica caudata var. hudsonica Allen, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. iii, 1872, 178.— B. B. & R. 



Hist. N. Am. B. ii, 1871, 265, 266, pi. 38. fig. 1. 

 Pica rustica /j hudsonicaBiDGW. Field <& Forest, June, 1877, 218. 

 Pica rustica hudsonica Ridgw. Nopi. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 286.— CouES, 2d Check List, 

 1882, No. 347. 

 Pica melanoleuca AUD. Synop. 1839, 157; B. Am. iv, 1842, 99, pi. 227. 



