CORVID.E — THE CROWS. 273 



well-marked and easily defined races of one primitive species, the grada- 

 tion from one form to the other being very regular, and agreeing with the 

 general variation attendant upon geographical distribution. Thus, begin- 

 ning with C. stelleri, we have the anterior part of head and body, in- 

 cluding interscapular region, black, without any markings on the head. In 

 frontalis the back is lighter, and a glossy blue shows on the forehead. 

 In ■macrolo'plia the blue of posterior parts invades the anterior, tingeing them 

 very decidedly, leaving the head black, with a blue shade to tlie crest ; 

 the forehead is glossed with bluish-white ; the upper eyelids have a white 

 spot. In coronata the blue tinge is deeper, and pervades tlie entire body, 

 except the side of the head. The shade of blue is different from macrolopha, 

 and more like that of stelleri ; diadcmata, intermediate in habitat between 

 macrolo'pha and coronata, is also intermediate in colors. The tail becomes 

 rather more even, and the bill more slender, as we proceed from stelleri to 

 coronata. The bars on the secondary coverts become darker in the same 

 progression. 



Cyanura cristata, Swainson. 



BLUE JAY. 



Corvus eristatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, (lOthed.,) 1758, 106 ; (12th ed.,) 1766, 157. — Gmelin, 

 Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 369. — Wilson, Am. Oni. I, 1808, 2, pi. i, f. 1. — Bon. Obs. 

 Wilson, 1824, No. 41. —Doughty, Cab. N. H. II, 1832, 62, pi. vi. — AuD. Orn. 

 Biog. II, 1834, 11 ; V, 1839, 475, pi. cii. Garrulus eristatus, " Vieillot, Encyclop. 

 890." — Ib. Diet, XI, 477. — Bon. Syn. 1828, 58. — Sw. F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 293. 



— Vieillot, Galerie, I, 1824, 160, pi. cii. — Aud. Birds Am. IV, 110, pi. ccxxxi. 



— Max. Caban. J. 1858, VI, 192. Pica cristata, Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827, Pica, No. 8. 

 Cijanurus eristatus, Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, App. 495. — Bairp, Birds N. 

 Am. 1858, 580. — Samuels, 364. — Allen, B. E. Fla. 297. Cyanocorax eristatus, 



. Bon. List, 1838. Gyanocitta cristata, Strickland, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, 261. — 

 Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 221. Cyanogarrulus eristatus, Bon. Consp. 1850, 376. 



Sp. Char. Crest about one third longer than the bill. Tail much graduated. General 

 color above light purplish-blue; wings and tail-feathers ultramarine-blue; the secondaries 

 and tertials, the greater wing-coverts, and the exposed surface of the tail, sharply banded 

 with black and broadly tipped with white, except on the central tail-feathers. Beneath 

 white ; tinged with purplish-blue on the throat, and with bluish-brown on the sides. 

 A black crescent on the forepart of the breast, the horns passing forward and connecting 

 with a half-collar on the back of the neck. A narrow frontal line and loral region black ; 

 feathers on the base of the bill blue, like the crown. Female rather duller in color, and 

 a little smaller. Length, 12.2.5; wing, 5.65; tail, .5.75. 



Hab. Eastern North America, west to the Missouri. Northeastern Texas (Dresser, 

 Ibis, 1865, 494). North to Red River and Moose Factory. 



Specimens from north of the United States are larger than more southern 

 ones. A series of specimens from Florida, brought by Mr. Boardman, are 

 quite peculiar in some respects, and probably represent a local race resident 

 there. In these Florida specimens the wing and tail are each an inch or 



VOL. II. 35 



