62 Rev. H. B. Tristram on the Ornithologn of Palestine. 



and a whitish line over the eyes, which is narrower and more 

 russet-coloured in the Smyrniote bird. The forehead of the 

 English Jay is streaked with black, of which there is no trace in 

 that of the Syrian bird. The back of this latter is several 

 shades lighter in colour than that of the Asia-Minor form, 

 which is nearly as dark as the Algerian G. cervicalis, but without 

 its rich chestnut nape and shoulders ; the breast and abdomen 

 also resemble the Algerian in being rather ashy-brown than 

 russet-brown, which is the Syrian hue ; but in all other par- 

 ticulars, in size, in the dark outer rectrices, in the absence of 

 the chestnut collar and shoulders, in the extent of the black 

 crest to the nape of the neck instead of barely reaching the oc- 

 ciput, as in G. cervicalis, the Syrian and Asia-Minor forms are 

 identical. 



In the differences between these two local races I think we 

 may find a solution for the confusion into which the synonymy 

 of the group has been thrown. Bonelli described his G. mela- 

 nocephalus from an Asiatic specimen in the Turin Museum. 

 Malherbe, finding this description to suit the conspicuous feature 

 of the black crest continuous from the forehead, applied it in his 

 Catalogue of 1846 to the Algerian bird. Schlegel then evi- 

 dently took his G. melanocephalus from an Asia-Minor bird; 

 and Prince Bonaparte, in his ' Conspectus,' has (a rare accident 

 with that indefatigable ornithologist) confused the three, and 

 formed his definitions of G. melanocephalus (Bon.) and G. krynicki 

 (Kal.) — which latter is really the Asiatic bird ; while his G. mela- 

 nocephalus (Bonelli) is not so, but is the true G. atricapillus, 

 occurring in North Africa only, and not in Arabia or Syria. 

 If we choose to separate the Caucasian and Asia-Minor fi'om the 

 Syrian bird, then we must take the name G. stridens of Ehrenberg 

 (as having priority) for the latter. But the Syrian and Algerian 

 species must never be confounded. 



Let us, after this digression, pursue our new acquaintance 

 of Carmel. There it was very common, in company with the 

 Picus syriacus, of which we obtained our first specimens at the 

 same time. Afterwards we found it abundant, but never with- 

 out the Woodpecker in company, in all the olive-groves between 

 Nazareth and Jerusalem, at Jenin, especially round Sebustiyeh 



