570 BRITISH BIRDS. 
on the head except on the checks. The rest of the Jays, with one or more 
forms then unknown to Wallace, are nothing but local races of our 
Common Jay. 
The typical form of the Common Jay is a resident bird throughout 
Europe except in the south-east. In Scandinavia it is found as far north 
as the Arctic circle; in Russia up to lat. 63°, ranging eastwards to the 
valley of the Volga. Eastwards through South Siberia, the valley of the 
Amoor, and the north island of Japan, extending southwards into North 
China, G. brandti occurs, differing in being greyer on the back, and in having 
the ground-colour of the head and nape rich chestnut, instead of pale 
vinous on the former shading into darker vinous on the latter. In the 
south island of Japan, however, the European form almost reappears, 
G. japonicus differing from our bird only in having the eround-colour 
of the head somewhat ‘whiter, and in haying the black on the cheeks 
extending upwards to the lores. In Eastern Turkey, Asia Minor, the 
Caucasus, Palestine, and South Persia a black-headed Jay is found, 
G. atricapillus, which principally differs from our bird in having the crown 
and nape black and the feathers of the forehead and throat nearly white. 
In Asia Minor many examples (G. anatolie) have the darker forehead and 
throat of our bird, but retain the black head. On the south-western 
shores of the Caspian the Jays have the upper and underparts a much richer ~ 
vinous, and the black feathers of the head have indications of rufous 
margins. This species I have named G. caspius, which is represented 
further to the south in North Persia by G. hyrcanus, which is still richer 
in colour, and has the margins to the dark feathers of the head almost as 
much developed as in the typical form. A slightly modified form is also 
found in Algeria, G. cervicalis, differing principally from the Common Jay 
in having the cheeks much whiter, the feathers on the crown almost 
entirely black, and the nape a much richer rufous than the back. It is 
probable that all these forms interbreed whenever they get the opportunity. 
In Asia Minor intermediate forms occur between G. anatolie and G. atri- 
capillus. Bogdanow states that the Jay which is found in the valley of the 
Kama, and which he names G. sewerzowii, is intermediate between G. glan- 
darius and G. brandti; and Messrs. Alléon and Vian say that in the neigh- 
bourhood of Constantinople intermediate forms between G. glandarius and 
G. atricapillus occur. The peculiarity in the present species which makes 
it somewhat exceptional is that the Siberian bird (G. Srandti), instead of 
being an arctic, has the appearance of being a tropical form, which may 
possibly be accounted for by its being only found in the extreme south of 
Siberia. 
The Jay is essentially a bird of the woods. Like most showy birds, it 
loves seclusion and finds a congenial haunt in our game-coverts, forests, 
and shrubberies. Woods thickly interspersed with large clumps of hollies 
wee 
