302 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Perisoreus canadensis, var. obscurus, Eidgway. 



ALASKAN GRAY JAY. 



Perisoreus canadensis, Cooper & Suckley, 216. — Dall & Bannister, Tr. Chic. Ac. I, 

 1869, 286 (Alaska). — FiNscH, Abh. Nat. Ill, 1872, 40 (Alaska). — Cooper, Orn. Cal. 

 I, 1870, 307. 



Sp. Char. (8,454 Shoalwater Bay, W. T., March 10, 1854 ; Dr. J. G. Cooper.) Above 

 plumbeous-umber, inclining to grayish-plumbeous on wings and tail ; shafts of the dorsal 

 feathers conspicuously white. Whole crown and nape, above the lores and auriculars, 

 sooty-black ; separated from the brown of the back by a whitish tint. Forehead (narrow- 

 ly), nasal tufts, lores, whole lateral and under side of head, with jugulum, pure white, rest 

 of lower parts a duller and more brownish white. Wing, 5.50; tail, 5.30; culmen, .93; 

 tarsus, 1.20. Young (5,904, Shoalwater Bay). Entirely plumbeous-brown, inclining to 

 brownish-white beneath. Dorsal feathers with white shafts, and those of the forehead, 

 crown, and nape, as well as the wing-coverts, with obsolete whitish borders. 



This form, as described above, seems to be peculiar to the northwest coast, 

 reaching its extreme development in Washington Territory and Oregon. 

 North of Sitka, and in the Yukon Territory, specimens incline toward the 

 var. canadensis, in broader frontal white, and purer plumbeous colors. 



Habits. Dr. Cooper met with this variety at the mouth of the Columbia 

 River in March in small scattered flocks, industriously seeking insects and 

 seeds among the spruce-trees, occasionally whistling in a loud melodious 

 tone like that of the Cardinal Grosbeak. He also states that tlie notes of this 

 bird differ much from the other Jays in being clear and musical, and they 

 sometimes show a considerable variety of song. 



This Jay, Mr. Lord states, is so familiar and confiding, and so fond of 

 being near the habitations of man, that the settlers never harm it. In the 

 cold weather he has seen it hop by the fire, ruffle up its feathers and 

 warm itself without the least fear, keeping a sharp lookout for crumbs, and 

 looking so beseechingly with its glittering gray eyes, that no one could 

 refuse such an appeal for a stray morsel. It winters in British Columbia 

 and Vancouver Island. 



Perisoreus canadensis, var. capitalis, Baird. 



KOCKY MOUNTAIN GRAY JAY. 



Sp. Char. (61,084, Henry's Fork, Wyoming Teritory, F. V. Hayden.) Above fine 

 light bluish-plumbeous, becoming much lighter on the anterior portion of the back ; 

 tertials, secondaries, wing-coverts, primaries, and tail-feathers passing into whitish 

 terminally, on the latter forming quite broad and distinct tips. A nuchal patch of a 

 .slightly darker tint than the back, and separated from it by the hoary whitish of the 

 anterior dorsal region. Whole of the head (except the nuchal patch), with the anterior 

 lower parts, as far as the breast, pure white ; rest of lower parts ashy-white, becoming 

 gradually more ashy posteriorly. Wing, 5.80; tail, 6.00; culmen, 1.00. Young (18,440, 



