CORVID.E — THE CROWS. 297 



was with General Scott's army in its campaign in Mexico. Mr. Pease stated 

 that it lived on the sides of the hills throughout the year, and that its local 

 name was Pc/jc verde. 



Colonel George A. McCall, Inspector-General of the United States Army, 

 was the first person to collect these birds within our limits. He obtained 

 them in the forests that border tlie liio Grande on the southeastern frontier 

 of Texas. There he found them all mated in the month of May, and 

 he felt no doubt that they had their nests in the extensive and almost 

 impenetrable thickets of mimosa, commonly called chaparral. From the 

 jealousy and pugnacity which these birds manifested on the approach, or 

 appearance even, of the large boat-tailed Blackbirds of that country (Quisca- 

 lus macrurus), which were nesting in great numbers in the vicinity. Colonel 

 McCall was satisfied that the Jays were at that time also engaged in the 

 duties of incubation and rearing their young. In character and temperament 

 these birds appeared to be very active and lively, though less noisy than 

 some other species of the family. Their gay plumage was exhibited to great 

 advantage as they flitted from tree to tree, or dashed boldly in pursuit of 

 such of their more plainly attired neighbors as ventured to intrude upon 

 their domain. 



Captain J. P. McCown, also quoted by Mr. Cassin, furnishes some 

 additional observations in regard to these birds. He states that during the 

 several years that he was in Texas, he frequently saw these Jays, but never 

 met with them above Pdnggold Barracks, or north of the woods that skirt 

 the Piio Grande. They seemed to prefer the acacia groves which have 

 sprung up where the ground has been overflowed. He regards it as a rather 

 cautious bird. He observed nests high up in the trees above mentioned, 

 which he supposes belong to this species, though this was never positively 

 ascertained. He had no doubt that they breed in Texas. 



Genus PERISOREUS, Bonap. 



Perisoreus, Bonap. Saggio di una dist. met. 1831. (Type, Corvus canadensis ?) 

 Dysornitliia, Swainson, F. B. Am. II, 1831, 495. (Same type.) 



Char. Feathers lax and full, especially on the back, and of very dull colors, without 

 any blue. Head without distinct crest. Bill very short; broader than high. Culmen 

 scarcely half the length of the head ; straight to near the tip, then slightly curved ; gonys 

 more curved than culmen. Bill notched at tip. Nostrils round, covered by bristly feath- 

 ers. Tail about equal to the wings ; graduated. Tarsi rather short ; but little longer 

 than the middle toe. Plumage very soft, and without any lustre. 



The Canada Jay has a near ally in a species of northern Europe and 

 Siberia, — the Siberian Jay (P. infaustus). In size and proportions the two 

 are quite identical, there being about the same proportionate length of wing 

 and tail, and a general correspondence in the minutire of external anatomy. 



VOL. ij. 38 



