•?<- 



GARRVLUS FLORIDANUS. 



FLORIDA JAY. 



[Plate XIV. Fig. 1.] 



Garndus cyaneus, Yii,ihL. Nonv. Did. d' Hist. A'a^. xii.. p. 476. — Garrulua ccer 

 lescens, Vieill. Nbttv. Did. d'Hist. Nat. xii., p. 480. — Garndus ccerulescens, Ord, 

 in Journ. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phila. i., p. 346, — Corvus floridanus, Nob. Syn. Am. Birds, 

 Sp. 64, in. Ann. Lye. N. Y. Id. Cat. Birds U. S. Sp. 64, in Contr. Mad. Lye. 

 Phil. — Corvus floridanus, Pica glandaria minor, the lAttle .Jay of Florida, Bart. 

 Tr. p. 290. — Pica glandaria cceruJea nan cristafa, Bart. Trai:. p. 172. — Le Geay 

 azurin, and Le Geay gris-bleu, Yieill. Nouv. Did. I. c. 



A SINGLE glance at the plate on which this fine bird is represented, 

 and at that of the preceding, or Steller's Jay, will suffice better than the_ 

 longest description, to show the error committed by Latham, in quoting 

 in his recent work (General History of Birds), the name of this species 

 among the synonymes of that dedicated to Steller. In fact, the large 

 crest of that species (of which the present is altogether destitute), and 

 its black head ; the light brown back, and bluish collar of this — but it 

 is needless to carry the comparison between them any further, they are 

 too dissimilar to suffer it, and we shall reserve pointing out differences 

 until required by closely related species, of which more striking exam- 

 ples will not long be wanting. 



Mistakes of thia kind are perhaps unavoidable in a compilation of 

 such extent as the work we have mentioned, and if they proceeded from 

 a laudable desire of excluding nominal species, evinced throughout, we 

 should refrain from censure ; but when, on the contrary, we find in the 

 same work such repeated instances of an inconsiderate multiplication of 

 species, they cannot be too severely condemned. 



Vieillot, in the case of this bird, has fallen into the contrary, and 

 much more common error, of making two species out of it ; one from 

 personal observation, and the other by compilation. This mistake has 

 already been corrected by Mr. Ord, in a valuable paper which he drew 

 up on his return from Florida, where he enjoyed the advantage of 

 studying this species in its native haunts. 



" When we first entered East Florida," says Mr. Ord, " which was in 

 the beginning of February, we saw none of these birds ; and the first 

 that we noticed were in the vicinity of St. Augustine, on the thirteenth 

 of the above mentioned month. We afterwards observed them daily in 

 the thickets near the mouth of the St. Juan. Hence we conjectured that 



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