260 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



The bill in this genus is not unlike that of Sturnus and Sturnella, and 

 conspicuous among Corvincc by its uncovered nostrils. 



Gymnokitta cyanocephala, Pr. Max. 



MAXIMILIAN'S JAY 



Gymnorhmus cyanocephalus, Pr. Maximilian, Reise in das innere Nord-Amerika, II, 1841, 

 21. — Ib. Voyage dansl'Am. du Nord, III, 1843, 296. Gymnokitta cyanocephala, "Pe. 

 Max. 1850," Bp. Conspectus, 1850, 382. — Cassin, lUust. I, vi, 1854, 165, pi. xxviii. 

 — Newberry, Rep. P. R. R. VI, iv, 1857, 83. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 574. — 

 Max. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 193. — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 292. Fsilm-hinus cya.no- 

 cepJiahcs, Gray, Genera. Cyanocorax cassini, M'Call, Pr. A. N. Sc. V, June, 1851, 

 216. 



Sp. Char. 



Wings considerably longer than the tail, and reaching to within an inch of 



its tip. Tail nearly even. General 

 _ color dull blue, paler on the abdomen, 



the middle of which is tinged with 

 ash ; the head and neck of a much 

 deeper and more intense blue, darker 

 on the crown Chin and forepart of 

 the throat whitish, streaked with blue. 

 Length, 10.00; wing, 5.90; tail, 4.50; 

 tarsus, 1.50. Young bird not differ- 

 ing in markmgs. 



Hab. Rocky Mountains of Colo- 

 rado, to Cascade Mts. of California and 

 Oregon. Not on the Pacific coast? 

 South to New Mexico and Arizona. 



■^- ,»55v\^V \ 





Gymnokitta cyanocephala. 



The female is appreciably dif- 

 ^ ferent from the male, both in size 

 and plumage, being smaller, and 

 of a light bluish-ash tint. This 

 difference is readily appreciable when the birds are seen flying. 



Habits. Maximilian's Jay was discovered and first described by that 

 eminent naturalist, Maximilian, Prince of Wied, in his book of travels in 

 North America, published in 1841. Mr. Edward Kern, who was connected 

 with Colonel Fremont's exploring expedition in 1846, was the first to bring 

 specimens of this interesting and remarkable bird to the notice of American 

 naturalists, transmitting them to the Philadelphia Academy. The speci- 

 mens procured by its discoverer were met with by him on Maria's River, 

 one of the tributaries of the Upper Missouri, in the extreme northern 

 portion of our northwestern territory, a point much farther north than it 

 has been met with by any other naturalist. As this species has since been 

 seen in large numbers in New Mexico, it may be presumed to extend its 

 movements over quite an extended area of distribution in the region of the 

 Rocky Mountains. 



