17 



about the bird was its black crest which he was con- 

 tinually raising up and down as he hopped about. 

 This, instead of being erected from the base of the 

 bill, like that of cockatoos and most other birds which 

 raise and depress their crests, was raised at a perfect 

 right angle directly over the eye, giving the bird an 

 especially sharp and quaint appearance. I searched 

 my library through, and at last found, in the Royal 

 Natural History, a bird whose description tallied very 

 nearly with my bird, under the name of Urraca Jay 

 {Cya7iocorax chrysops). The woodcut which accom- 

 panied the description was similar, with the exception 

 of the crest, which seemed too rounded and big, but 

 this I thought might be due to the figure being drawn 

 from a stuffed and not a living bird. 



Till two 3'ears ago I thought my bird belonged to 

 this species, but on opening my Aviculhcral Magazine 

 in May 1903, I was pleased to find a facsimile coloured 

 portrait of my then, sad to say, late lamented Jay, 

 under the name of the Blue-bearded Jay (^Cyajiocorax 

 cyanopog07i). These two birds must be very closely 

 allied, as the distribution of the markings seems exactly 

 similar, and the only difference in colouring seems to 

 be that the Urraca Jay has a purple black back, whilst 

 that of the Blue Bearded Jay is brown. Whether the 

 Urraca Jay has the purple streak from the base of bill 

 and the peculiar crest I am unable to say, but perhaps 

 some fellow member can enlighten us on this point, or 

 any other differences between the two birds. 



I fed him on an ordinary Thrush's mixture varied 

 with boiled potatoes, and, as a treat, a few scraps of 

 meat. I also handed over to his tender mercies all the 

 mice I caught, and with which I was overrun at the 



