204 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



A. Nostrils morlerato, completely covered by incumbent feathers. 



a. Tail much lonirer tiian the wings; first primary attenuated, falcate. 



Pica. Head without crest. 



b. Tail about as lonir as the wincfs; first primarj'' not falcate. 



Cyauura. Head with lenirthened narrow crest. Wing and tail 

 bhie. I)anded with black. 



Cyanocitta. Head without crest. Above blue, wnth a gray patch 

 on the back. No bands on wing and tail. 



Zanthoura. Head without crest. Color above greeni;?h ; the 

 head blue ; lateral tail-feathers yellow. 



Perisoreus. Head full and bushy. Bill scarcely half the head, 

 with white feathers over the nostrils. Phnnage dull. 

 B« Nostrils very large, naked, uncovered by feathers. 



Psilorhinus. Head not crested ; tail broatl ; wings two thirds as 

 long as the tail. 



Calocitta. Head with a recurved crest ; wings less than half as 

 long as tlie tail. 



There is a very close relationship between the Jays and the Titmice, the 

 chief tlifterencc being in size rather than in any other distinguishing feature. 

 The feathers at tlie base of the bill, however, in the Jays, are ])ristly through- 

 out, with lateral brandies reaching to the very tip. In Parida: these feathers 

 are inclined to be broader, with the shaft projecting considerably beyond the 

 basal portion, or the lateral brandies are confined to the basal portion, and 

 extended I'orwards. There is no naked line of separation between the 

 scutelhe on the outer side of the tarsi. The basal joint of the middle toe 

 is united almost or quite to the end to tlie lateral, instead of half-way. 

 The first primary is usually less than half the second, instead of rather 

 more ; the fourth and fifth primaries nearly equal aiid longest, instead of the 

 fifth being longer than the fourth. 



Genus PICA, Cuvier. 



Corncias, T.IN^^^^^s, Syst. Nat. 1735 (Oiivv). 



Pern, BuissiiN, Oniithologin, 17«)0, and cf Cuvier (Aoassiz). (Type, Corvus pica, L.) 



Cleptc.% Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. 2d Scr. 1, lb47,47. 



Gen. Chah. Tail very long, forming much more than half 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 l)road at the liase ; the cuhnon and 

 gonys much curved, and about ecpial; the bristly feathers reaching nearly to the middle 

 of the bill. Nostrils nearly circular. Tarsi very long; middle toe 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 tlie very long 

 graduated tail, lies in the attenuated, falcate first primary. Calorittn, which 

 has an equally long or longer tail, has the first primary as in the Jays 

 generaUy (besides having the nostrils exposed). 



