2O8 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Cyanocitta cristata cristata (Linnaeus) 

 Blue Jay 



Plate 70 



Corvus cristatus Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. 1758. Ed. 10. 1:106 

 Garrulus cristatus DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 129, fig. 54 

 Cyanocitta cristata cristata A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 222. 

 No. 477 



cyanocitta, Gr., xyavo?, blue, and xhTx, jay; cristata, Lat., crested 



Description. Head conspicuously crested; tail and wings rounded; 

 upper parts light purplish blue; wings and tail bright cobalt blue; the 

 secondaries and tail feathers barred with black, the longer wing coverts, 

 secondaries and tail feathers except the central pair conspicuously tipped 

 with white ; side of the head and throat purplish white bordered by a black 

 collar running over the nape down the sides of the head and neck and 

 across the forebreast; lores black; breast and sides grayish fading to clear 

 white on the belly and under tail covert. 



Length 11-12.5 inches; extent 15.7-17.5; wing 5-5.7; tail 5-5.7; bill 

 1.25; tarsus 1.25-1.35. 



Distribution. The Blue jay inhabits eastern North America from 

 central Alberta, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland south to the 

 gulf coast. In New York it is a resident of all portions of the State but 

 is a common species only in the less settled districts, seeming to prefer 

 evergreen or mixed woodlands, and in western New York is confined mostly 

 to the larger forests, swamps and ravines. Although Blue jays may be 

 found in nearly every county of the State at any time of the year, it is 

 perfectly evident to a careful bird student that there is a decided migration 

 of the species, the southward movement occurring in October from about 

 September 20 to October 30. In the spring the northern migration is 

 later than would be expected, migrating individuals often occurring in 

 considerable numbers from the 25th of April to the 25th of May. I have 

 frequently noticed as many as 20 or 30 Blue jays in small patches of wood- 

 land near the shore of Lake Ontario and on the shores of Canandaigua and 

 Seneca lakes at this season of the year, evidently migrating northward to 

 their breeding grounds, for whatever specimens were taken were found 

 not to be nearer than three weeks to the breeding period although Blue 



