24 FIELD KEY TO THE LAND BIRDS. 
CROWS. — Corvidae. 
Bru. — Large, stout, and strong. 
Frer. — With prominent scales or 
shields. 
At home in trees or on the 
<S ground, walking or hopping. All- 
EN the-year-round birds. 
48. BLUE JAY. Cyanocita cristata. — Length, 
113 inches. Blue above with black and white marks ; 
underparts white and gray. One of our handsomest 
birds, being conspicuous both for its color and for its 
graceful motions. Its voice is characterized both by 
melodious tunes and by abominable shrieks. The 
Blue Jay strolls all day from tree to tree in company 
with others of his kind, robbing birds’ nests, hunting 
insects, stealing chestnuts and acorns, and frequently 
alarming the woods with his shrieks, because a danger- 
ous intruder has shown himself somewhere. He also 
plunders cornfields and berries. 
49. CANADA JAY. MEAT BIRD. WHISKY 
JACK. Perisoreus canadensis. — Length, 12 inches. 
Face and neck white ; back of head black ; otherwise 
