CORVIU^— THE CltOWS AND JAV?. 333 



ish, the -wings and tail not barred; beneath light grayish or dull whitish (in some Mex- 

 ican species wholly blue underneath). 



Perisoreus. Plumage exceedingly lax and "fluffy." Bill very small, scai-oely half the 

 length of the head. Color mainly dull grayish. 



Genus PICA Brisson. 



PtcaBRissoN, Ornithologia, 1760, ii, 35. Type, Corvus pica Linn. 



"Gen. Char. Tail very long, forming much more than the total length; the feathers 

 much graduated; the lateral scarcely more than half the middle. First primary falcate, 

 curved, and attenuated. Bill about as high as broad at the base, the culmen and gonys 

 much curved, and about equal; the bristly feathers reaching nearly to the middle of the 

 bill. Nostrils nearly circular. Tarsi very long; middle too scarcely more than two 

 thirds the length. A patch of naked skin beneath and behind the eye. 



"The peculiar characteristic of this genus, in addition to the very 

 long graduated tail, lies in the attenuated, falcate first primary. 

 Calocitta, which has an equally long or longer tail, has the fii-st 

 primary as in the Jays generally (besides having the nostrils ex- 

 posed)." {Hist. N. Am. B.) 



The American Magpie (P. pica hudsonica) belongs to a cireum- 

 polar species (P. j)i<-'n) which in the various parts of its range is 

 differentiated into more or less strongly marked geographical races. 

 Many ornithologists do not admit the subspecific distinctness of the 

 American bird, and the differences from the European (typical) form 

 are indeed slight in some specimens, though easily recognized in the 

 majority. 



A probably distinct species (P. nuttalli), confined to Cahfornia, 

 differs in having the bill and bare suborbital space bright yellow 

 instead of black. 



Pica pica hudsonica (Sab.) 



BLACK-BILLED MAGPHE. 

 Popular synonym. American Magpie. 



Corvus iiica WiLS. Am. Orn. iv, 1811. 75. pi. 35. fig. 2 (nee Linn.)— Sw. & Rich. F. B.-A. ii. 



1831, 292.— NUTT. Man. i, 1S32. 21SI.-Aud. Orn. Biog. iv, 1838. 408, pi. 3.57. 

 Corvus hudsonicus Sabine. App. Franklin's Voy. 1823, 25, C71. 

 Fica tm(!so7iica Bp. 1S3S.— Baird, B. N. Am. IWS. 576; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 432. 

 Fica melavoleuca var. hudso7iica Coues. Key. 1S72, 164; Cheek List, 1873, No. 233; B. 



N. W. 1874, 211. 

 Pica cavdata var. hudsonica Allen. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. iii, 1872, 178.— B. B. & R. 



Hist. N. Am. B. ii, 1871, 265, 266, pi. 38. lig. 1. 

 Pica r>ii:tica R hudsonica BiDGW. Field & Forest. .Tune, 1877, 218. 

 Fica rustica hudsonica Ridgw. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, No, 286.— Coues, 2d Cheek List. 

 1882, No. 347. 

 Ficamelanoleuca AuD. Synop. 1839, 157: B. Am. iv, 1842, 99, pi. 227. 



