COR VID^ — GABR ULINjE : J A YS. 



421 



as much of a rascal. The nost is phiced in thick shrubbery, as big as a bushel, bristling with 

 a clievatix-de-frise outside, with a lateral covered way leading to the nest within. Eggs 6-9, 

 1.20 to 1.40 long by 0.90 to 1.00 broad, pale drab, dotted, dashed, and blotched with purplish- 

 brown. 



348. P. nut'talli. (To Thos. Nuttall.) Yellow-billed Magpie. Bill and bare space about 

 eye yellow. Otherwise, precisely like the last, of which it is a perpetuated accident ! The 

 European magpie sometimes shows the same thing, and in some other species, like P. morio, 

 tlie bill is indifierently black or yellow, California, comm<tn. 



111. C YANOCIT'TA. (Gr. Kvavos, kuanos, blue ; kItto, kitta, a jay.) Crested Blue Jays. 

 ( \)nspicuously crested ; wings and tail blue, black -barred ; bill and feet black. Length 11.00- 

 12.00; wing or tail 5.00-6.00. Nostrils large, subcircular, but concealed. Wings and tail of 

 ('(jual lengths, both rounded. Hind claw large, equalling or exceeding its digit in length. 

 There are two species of this beautiful genus, one light blue and white. Eastern, standing 

 quite alone ; the other dusky-bodied, Western, running into several varieties. 



Analysis of Species and Varieties. 



PurplJsb-blue, whitening below, with a black collar cristata 349 



Sooty-brownish or -blackish, bluing on body behind, wings and tail ; the latter Ijlack-barred. 



Sooty-blackish ; little if any blue on forehead ; none about eye ; wing-coverts unbarred . . stelleri 350 



Sooty-blackish ; but blue on forehead and above eye ; wing-coverts unbarred annectens 351 



Sooty -brownish, blue on forehead; little if any blue about eye ; wing-coverts unbarred . . frontalis 353 

 Sooty -brownish, the crest quite black. Bluish-white streaks on forehead and about eye ; wing- 

 coverts black-barred macrotopha 352 



349. C. crista'ta. (Lat. cristata, crested. Fig. 274.) Blue Jay. ^ : Purplish-blue, below pale 

 purplish - gray, whitening on 



throat, belly, and crissum. A l" ~ ^ _ -^^^^=-z- 



black collar across lower throat 

 and up the sides of the neck and 



head behind the crest ; a black '^Sj^K^B^^^^ -^^ 



frontlet bordered with whitish. 

 Wings and tail pure rich blue, 

 with black bars, the greater 

 coverts, secondaries, and tail- 

 feathers, except the central, 

 broadly tipped with pure white ; 

 tail much rounded, the gradua- 

 tion over an inch. Length 



11.00-12.00; extent 16.00- ^^^t ' " S'^^IS^^M^p^?*. ""^'^"^ 



17.50; wing and tail, each, - _ H ^' ^%' 



5.00-6.00; bill 1.25; tarsus ~- Vf^S^^!^^ 



1.35. 9 similar, not so richly '"• "^"^ft^T" ■^ 



blue : smaller. There is much 



diflFerence in size between north- ^^^ ^'^^ - ^^"^ -"^y' reduced (Sheppaid del Nichols sc ) 



ern and southern bred birds, as in the AgelcBUS. Florida specimens are particularly small, the 

 bill relatively larger, the crest less, the white on wings and tail restricted ; as worthy as 

 some other Floridan races to be named (C c. florincola, N.). Eastern N. A., especially U. S., 

 but N. to Hudson's Bay; W. to the central plains; a very abundant resident or half- migratory 

 bird, breeding throughout its range ; a well-known character ! Nest in trees and bushes, or 

 any odd nook, large and substantial; eggs 5-6 in number, 1.00 to 1.20 long by 0.80 to 0.90 

 broad, drab-colored with brown spots. 



350. C. stel'leri. (To G. W. Steller.) Steller's Jay. $ 9 : Whole head, neck, and back sooty 

 blackish, little if any lighter on throat, and with little if any blue on forehead or about eyes ; 



