112 f'Jiinutm'' of flic ]'iirafa}i Jay. 



the bill and overhan.i^ins" it. It also has the le.^s and irides dark. 



TiiK AcAPULCo JAV (C. s-h. pidchra) is similar, but has the 

 blue i)arls uuicli darker. These forms are not easily distin- 

 guished when only one is seen, but when livin,!^' toi^ether in an 

 aviary, as we have had them here, the difference is very decided. 



The fifth form. I Iarilaub's Jay (C ))iclanucyanca) I 

 never have had the pleasure of seeinii' alive, but it has a heavy, 

 bushv crest, so that it should easily be known to the fortunate 

 a\-iculturist who mi^ht happen on it. 



\ am aware that the characters noted above would not 

 suit ihe technical systematist, but I am sure they will serve to 

 identify living' l)irds at a i^iance. and 1 Lake it that is wdiat i; 

 wanted l)v the a\iculturist. 



The Undescribed Juvenal Plumage of the 

 Yucatan Jay. 



By C. William Beebe. Curator of Birds, and Lee S. Crandall, 



Assistant Curator. 



SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE NEW YORK 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



I. 



On Septeml)er 3, 191 1, three jays in immature plumaj^e 

 were received from "^'ucatan. The plumage was a hitherto 

 undescribed one, and a drawing was made of one of the birds 

 on September 8. The subsequent postjuvenal moult trans- 

 formed the birds into undoubted Cissiloj^ha yucata)iica. This 

 change is described in detail in Part II. of the present paper. 



Both Sharpe (i) and Salvin and Codman (2) describe the 

 female of this jay as differing from the male in having the beak 

 yellow instead of black, and the outer rectrices tipped with 

 white. Our collector who brought north the yoiuig birds, 

 reflecting the o])inion of the natives in Yucatan, asserts that the 

 white rectrice tips alone characterize the female. Ridgway 

 (4) describes the adult sexes as alike, and considers the vellow 



1_1877. Sliarpo, Cat. Birds Brit. Miis., III.. 133. 



2 — ]887. Salvin nud Godman, Biol. Oent.-Amer., Avos. I, 498, pi. 3o. 



4—1904. Ridgway, Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, Part III., Slo, 



