JAYS. 



Avas lined with moderately fine roots. The cavity was 

 5 inches by 4 inches, and about 1 inch in depth. 



" The eggs received from Major Bingham, as also 

 others received from Sikbim, wlhere they were procured 

 by Mr. Mandelli on April 21st and 28th, are rather 

 broad ovals, somewhat pointed towards the small end. 

 The shell is fine, but has cnily a little gloss. The 

 ground-colour is white, or slightly greyish -white, and 

 they are uniformly freckled all over with very pale 

 yellowish and greyish-lbrown. The frecklings are always 

 somewhat densest at the large end, where in some eggs 

 they form a dull brown cap or zone. In some eggs the 

 markings are somewhat denser, in some sparser, so that 

 some eggs look yellower or browner, and others paler." 



Mr. Hume expresses the opinion that this species is 

 wrongly placed by Jerdon, the eggs being of the Ga.rru- 

 line tvpe. The term "Green Magipie" is admitted by 

 Mr. Gates to have been applied bv himself, not by Mr. 

 Hume. It seems to me that it would simplify matters 

 to regard all the birds with prominent crests as Jays. 



The Zoological Society of London purchased two 

 specimens in June, 1868, two in Mav, 1871, two In 

 April, 1873, and others later; it has also found its way 

 into private aviaries, where it has been recognised 

 under the popular name of " The Hunting Oissa." 



SWAIXSON'S LONG-TAILED JAY (Calocitta formosa). 



Blue-grey above, brighter on sides and back of neck ; 

 wings bluer and faintly washed with purple, most 

 strongly on the innermost secondaries, the inner webs 

 of whidh are washed with sky-iblue ; inner webs of other 

 flights brownish ; tail purplish co'balt-lblue, distal third 

 of four outermost feathers white ; crown bluish-black, 

 with long crest of recurved feathers ; lores and feathers 

 above eye bluish --white ; feathers encircling eye dusky, 

 a small black spot ajbove the back of the latter ; sides 

 of head creamy-white ; a broad black band down sides 

 of neck behind the ear-coverts ; a bluish-Mack streak 

 below the eye crossing the cheek ; under surface creamy - 

 white ; chin slightly bluish ; .chest crossed by a dull blue 

 crescent, blackish at the sides ; flanks pur iplish -grey ; 

 edge of wing .greyish-lblue ; bill and feet black. Female 

 with quite black crest, nape black, back of head washed 

 with blue, probably with shorter, stouter bill than the 

 male. Haib., Mexico,, Guatemala, Costa Rica, 

 Nicaragua, Honduras. (Sharpe.) 



Mr. C. F. Underwood (The Ibi*. 1896) savs of this 

 species: "In habits it seems to resemble Psilorliiiiu* 

 me.ricanus ; even the note is verv similar, though 

 easily distinguishable." Unfortunately, he does, not 

 describe the habits of P. mexicanus, so that we are no 

 wiser. 



Respecting an allied species (C. rnlliei), Mr. C. W. 

 Beeibe says (" Two Bird-lovers in Mexico." pp. 175, 

 176) : "In cry and act ; on they are thoroughly Jay-like, 

 and in curiosity they equal any member of their family. 

 Quietly hidden under thick brush. I often looked for- 

 ward to an interesting hour's watching of the wild life, 

 when the sharp eyes of one of these inquisitive birds 

 would spy me out, and put an end to all! need of con- 

 cealment in that vicinity. He would shriek and cry 

 his loudest, alarming the most confiding species, and 

 making every bird within a quarter of a mile uneasy 

 and suspicious." " The Jays seem to feed on anything 

 nuts, seeds, berries, insects, and even" small birds, 

 which, apparently paralysed with fear at the shrieks 

 of the blue marauders, were an easy prey." 



I have come across no notes on the wild life of C. 

 fnrmofta, except that it is said to be very confiding, 

 following one for a mile throush the woods. The Zoo- 

 logical Society first secured three examples in 1877, and 

 in 1890 two specimens were purchased for the Gardens ; 



in 1876 the Amsterdam Gardens possessed a specimen, 

 and in 1889 the Berlin Gardens received one from 

 Antwerp. 



HIMALAYAN JAY (Garrulus bispecularis). 



Vinaceous fawn-colour, paler and yellower on the 

 forehead and nasal bristles ; lesser wing-coverts 

 vinaceous chestnut ; median coverts deeper and blackish 

 at base, the outermost streaked with grey ; bastard 

 wing and outer webs of primary-coverts barred black 

 and cobalt ; remaining coverts velvet black excepting 

 the innermost, which are chestnut tipped with black ; 

 flights black ; the primaries with white outer edges, 

 secondaries with about two-thirds of outer web barred 

 with cobalt ; upper and under tail-coverts white ; tail 

 black, faintly barred with grey towards the base ; 

 body below paler than above ; a broad black malar 

 streak ; throat and abdomen somewhat yellowish ; 

 thighs whitish ; bill dusky horny ; feet dull yellowish ; 

 irides red-brown. Female not differentiated ; probably 

 with shorter bill than the male. Hab., Himalayas. 



According to Jerdon (" Birds of India," Volume II., 

 p. 308) : " Adams states that it is common in the lower 

 ranges of the Himalayas, but not in Cashmere ; and 

 that its cry is loud and harsh." 



Hume (" Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds," Second 

 Edition, Volume I., pp. 28-30) says: "The Himalayan 

 Jay breeds pretty well throughout the lower ranges of 

 the Himalayas. It is nowhere, that I have seen, 

 numerically very abundant, but it is to be met with 

 everywhere. It lays in March and April, and, though 

 I have never taken the nest myself, I have now 

 repeatedly had it sent me. It builds at moderate 

 heights, rarely above 25 ft. from the ground, in trees 

 or thick shrubs, at elevations of from 3,000 to 7,000 ft. 

 The nest is a moderate-sized one, 6 to 8 in. in external 

 diameter, composed of fine twigs and grass, and lined 

 with finer grass and roots. 



" The nest is usually placed in a fork. 



"The eggs are four to six in number." 



" The eggs are rather broad ovals, a good deal 

 pointed towards one end. The ground-colour is pale 

 greenish white, and they are pretty finely freckled and 

 speckled (most densely so towards the large end, where 

 the markings are almost confluent) with dull, rather 

 pale olive-brown, amongst which a little speckling and 

 clouding of pale greyish purple is observable. The eggs 

 are decidedly smaller than those of the English Jay, 

 and few of the specimens I have exhibit any of those 

 black hair-like lines often noticeable in both the English 

 Jay and G. lanceolalus. In lensrth the eggs that I 

 have measured varied from 1.1 to 1.21, and in breadth 

 they only varied from 0.84 to 0.87." 



Russ says : " This Jay has hitherto only reached the 

 Zoological Gardens of Amsterdam and Berlin. In the 

 year 1896 both H. Fockelmann and A. Fockelmann of 

 Hamburg imported it into the market." 



LAXCEOLATED JAY (Garrulus lanceolatus}. 

 Pale vinaceous bay, washed with grey ; scapulars 

 rather greyer than back ; wings black ; lesser coverts 

 somewhat greyish ; primary-coverts white ; bastard 

 wing barred with cobalt towards the base, white at 

 tips ; flights white-tipped, especially the secondaries ; 

 primaries with grey edge towards the tips, the outer 

 webs of all the flights barred with blue and black ; two 

 innermost secondaries grey, with a broad subterminal 

 black bar washed with cobalt on upper edge; tail dull 

 blue (excepting towards the tips of the feathers, where 

 there is a broad white tip, and on the outer feathers) 

 and narrowly barred with black ; head, nape and throat 



