418 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. —PASSERES— OSCINES. 



. acute and much runted, especially that of the hind toe ; the lateral reaching beyond base of the 

 middle claw. Coloration peculiar ; gray, with black-and-white wdngs and tail. Habits much 

 the same as those of Nucifraga; alpine and sub-boreal, pinict)Une, and pinivorous. One 

 Bpecies, confined to W. Amer. 



344. P. columbia'nus. (Of the Columbia River. Fig. 270.) Clarke's Crow. $ 9 , adult : 

 Gray, often bleaching on the head ; wings glossy black, most of the secondaries broadly tipped 



with white ; tail white, including 

 '® the under coverts ; the central 



feathers and usually part of the 

 next pair, together with the up- 

 per coverts, black. Bill and feet 

 black. Iris brown. Length 

 about 12.50; extent 22.00; wing 

 7.00-8.00; tail 4.00-5.00; tar- 

 sus 1.35; bill averaging 1.67; 

 feet from 1.25 to 1.75. Sexes 

 alike in color, but 9 smaller than 

 $. Young similar, but browner 

 ash. There is great difference 

 Fig. 270. —Clarke's Crow, reduced. (Sheppard del. Nichols so.) j^ \\^q shade in adults the 

 plumage when fresh being more glaucous-ash, wearing browner, and also bleaching in patchc^s, 

 especially on head. Coniferous belt of the West, N. to Sitka, S. to Mexico, E. to Nebraska, 

 W. to the Coast Ranges ; the American representative of the European nutcracker, Nucifraga 

 caryocatactes ; abundant, imperfectly gregarious. A remarkable bird, wild, restless, and noisy, 

 sometimes congregating by thousands in the pineries of the W., roving in search of food. 

 Breeds high in pines, in alpine and northerly localities, concealing the nest with care ; nest of 

 sticks as a basis, on which bark-strips, grasses, and other fibrous substances are well matted 

 together. Eggs 1.20 X 0.90, light grayish -green, speckled and blotched with grayish-brown 

 and lilac, chiefly about the larger end. 

 108. GYMNOCIT'TA. (Gr. yvuvos, gunuios, naked, as the nostrils are ; Kirra, kitta, a jay.) Blue 

 Crows. Bill of peculiar shape, with nearly straight culmen mounting on forehead, thus some- 

 what as in Sturnella, between 

 the prominent and somewhat 

 antrorse antiae, which, how- 

 ever, do not hide the nostrils; 

 slender, tapering, acute, not 

 notched ; gonys straightish, 

 scarcely ascending. Nostrils 

 small, oval, entirely exposed. 

 Tail nearly square, much 

 shorter than wings. Wings 

 long, pointed, folding nearly 

 to end of tail ; 4th primary 

 longest, 3d and 5th scarcely Fig. 271. —Blue Crow, nat size; culmen too convex. (Adnat. del. E.G.) 

 shorter ; 2d shorter, 1st shorter still. Feet stout, indicating somewhat terrestrial liabits ; tar- 

 sus longer than middle toe without claw, the envelope subdivided behind towards the bottom. 

 Claws all large, strong, and much curved. Color bluish, nearly uniform : sexes alike. One 

 species. 



345. G. cyanoce'phala. (Gr. Kvavos, kuanos, blue; «<^aXij, kephale, head. Fig. 271.) Blue 

 Crow. ^ : Dull blue, very variable in intensity, nearly uniform, but brightest on head, fading 



