COR VID^ — THE CROWS. 295 



of their all belonging to one primitive form. These differences may be 

 expressed as follows : — 



Common Characters. Nasal tufts, patch on side of lower jaw and one 

 above eye, (both eyelids,) bright blue ; remainder of face and throat black. 

 Back, and upper surface of wings and tail (the four central feathers), green, the 

 latter tinged with blue at end ; the rest of tail-feathers bright yellow. Belly 

 and crissum varying from bright yellow to green. Forehead yellowish or 

 whitish. 



a. Nasal tufts short, only covering the nostrils ; whole top of head (ex- 

 cept anteriorly) and nape bright blue. 



1. Body beneath, and crissum, green. Hab. Mexico and South Texas. 



var. luxuosa. 



2. Body beneath, and crissum, yellow, sides more greenish. Hab. 

 Guatemala and Honduras \?lv. guatemalensis- 



b. Nasal tuft elongated, forming an anterior crest, the feathers reaching far 

 beyond nostrils. Whole top of head pale heavy yellow, glossed behind with 

 bluish. 



3. Body beneath, and crissum, very bright gamboge-yellow. Hab. 

 Colombia, Ecuador, Bogota, and Bolivia .... var. incas. 



Thus, starting with the green-bellied luxuosa of the Eio Grande, we come 

 to the yellow-bellied guatemalensis ; but intermediate localities show dif- 

 ferent proportions of the two colors. The nasal tufts in the first do not 

 extend beyond the nasal fossa3 ; and the frontal yellowish is very narrow. 

 In the second these tufts reach beyond tlie fossae, and the frontal yellowish 

 is more extended. In incas again the nasal tufts have reached their 

 maximum, while the frontal yellowish extends over the whole cap, leaving 

 only a trace of blue on the nape. 



Xanthoura incas, var. luxuosa, Bonap. 



GREEN JAY. 



Garrulus luxioosus, Lesson, Rev. Zool. April, 1839, 100. Cyanocorax luxuosus, Du Bus, 

 Esquisses Ornithologiques, iv, 1848, pi. xviii. — Cassin, Illust. I, 1853, I, pi. i. 

 Xanthoura luxuosa, Bon. Consp. 1850, 380. — Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 224. — 

 Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 589. Pica chloronota, Wagler, Isis, 1829, 750 (young 

 male ; name belongs to Corvus peruvianus, Gm.). Cyanocorax cyanicapillus, Cabanis, 

 Fauna Peruana, 1844-46, 233 (note). Cyanocorax yncas, "Bodd^rt," Lawrence, 

 Ann. N. Y. Lye. V, April, 1851, 115 (first added here to fauna of United States). 



Sp. Char. Wings shorter than the tail, which is much graduated, the lateral feathers 

 1.25 inches shorter. Above green ; beneath yellow, glossed continuously with green ; 

 inside of wings and outer four tail-feathers straw-yellow ; rest of tail feathers green, 

 glossed with blue. Sides of the head, and beneath from the bill to the forepart of the 

 breast, velvet-black. Crown, nape, and a short maxillary stripe running up to the eye and 

 involving the upper eyelid, brilliant blue ; the nostril-feathers rather darker ; the sides of 

 the forehead whitish. Bill black; feet lead-color. Length, ILOO; wing, 4.75; tail, 5.40; 

 tarsus, 1.65. 



Hab. Valley of Rio Grande, of Texas, and southward. 



