164 A New Species of Jay, etc. 



Cyanocorax 



Male. Fore part of the head as far as upon a line with the middle of 

 the eye, sides of the head and of the neck, throat and upper part of the 

 breast, deep black; moustache, a spot over the hind part of the eye, the 

 central portion of the upper and lower eye lids, and a mark from the 

 lower eye lid to the moustache, white ; occiput, nucha and under plumage, 

 pure white ; back, wings and two central tail feathers dark cobalt blue, 

 all the other tail feathers and the ends of the two middle ones are pure 

 white, the under surface of the two middle tail feathers is deep black; 

 the outer webs of the primaries are of a dull rather light blue for about 

 half their length, the color of the terminal portion of the webs still paler 

 and of a greenish shade; inner webs of the quills black, on their under 

 surface the quill feathers are of a dark silvery-gray : the concealed parts 

 of the feathers of the back are largely pure white, on the rump the ends 

 of the feathers only are blue; "eyes yellow;" bill, tarsi and toes, black. 



Length, 12£ in.; wing, 5|; tail, 6; bill, 1|; tarsus, \\. 



Habitat. North Peru, Pacasmayo and Ticapa, Oct., 1874. 



Remarks. This species belongs to the group represented 

 by C cayanus, but differs in being smaller, with the back 

 very differently colored, and in having all the tail feathers 

 pure white, except the two central ones, whereas in O. cay- 

 anus all the tail feathers are more or less blue on their basal 

 portions, the ends only white. 



I find but two species of this genus described as having 

 the tail feathers white, with the exception of the two middle 

 ones ; these are, Cyanocorax mystacalis, Geoff. Mag. de 

 Zool., 1835 ; and O. uroleucus, Heine Jour, fur Orn., 1860, 

 p. 115. 



C. mystacalis is admitted as a valid species by G. R. Gray, 

 Hand List 11, p. 5, and Sclater and Salvin, Nomenclator, 

 p. 39. It is referred to C cayanus by Bonaparte, Cons. 

 Av. 1, p. 379 ; Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. 1, p. 224; Heine, 

 Jour, fur Orn. 1860, p. 116, and Schlegel Mus. des Pays 

 Bas, Liv. 9, p. 51. According to its description, the tail is 

 white with the exception of the two middle feathers ; this 

 seems to debar it from being considered identical with C. 

 cayanus. 



