CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 2. PASSERES. 195 



" Wherever the jay has had the advantage of education from man, he has not only shown him- 

 self an apt scholar, but his suavity of manners seems equalled only by his art and contrivances 

 though it must be confessed, that his itch for thieving keeps pace with all his other acquirements. 

 Dr. Mease informs me, that a blue jay, which was brought up in the family of a gentleman, had 

 all the tricks and loquacity of a parrot; pilfered every thing he could conveniently carry off, and 

 hid them in holes and crevices; answered to his name with great sociability when called on • 

 could articulate a number of words pretty distinctly ; and, when lie heard an uncommon noise, or 

 loud talking, seemed impatient to contribute his share to the general festivity, by a display of all 

 the oratorical powers he was possessed of. 



"Mr. Bartram relates an instance of the jay's sagacity worthy of remark. 'Havino- caught a 

 jay in the winter season,' says he, 'I turned him loose in the green-house, and fed him with corn, 

 the heart of which they are very fond of. This grain being ripe and hard, the bird at first found 

 a difficulty in breaking it, as it would start from his bill when he struck it. After looking about, 

 and, as if considering for a moment, lie picked up his grain, carried and placed it close up in a 

 corner on the shelf, between the wall and a plant-box, where, being confined on three sides, he 

 soon effected his purpose, and continued afterward to make use of this same practical expedient.' 

 'The jay,' continues this judicious observer, 'is one of the most useful agents in the economy of 

 nature for disseminating forest trees and other ruciferous and hard-seeded vegetables on which 

 they feed. Their chief employment, during the autumnal season, is foraging to supply their win- 

 ter stores. In performing this necessary duty, they drop abundance of seed in their flight over 

 fields, hedges, and by fences, where tliey alight to deposit them in the post-holes, &c. It is re- 

 markable what numbers of young trees rise up in fields and pastures after a wet winter and 

 spring. These birds alone are capable, in a few years' time, to replant all the cleared lands.'" 



The Canada Jay, G. Canadensis, is ten inches long; head black; back leaden-gray ; beneath 



light leaden-brown. It is a northern bird, but found occasionally in the winter as far south as 



New York, where it is called the Carrion- Bird. The G. Stelleri is generally of a blue color, head 



and neck blackish ; tail long; whole length twelve inches; found in Mexico. The G. Floridensis 



is eleven to twelve inches long; back light yellowish-brown ; head, wings, and tail blue; beneath 



I gray ; found in Florida and the Western States. The G. ultramarinus is twelve inches long , 



j blue and brownish-olive ; found in California. The jNIexican Jay, Cyanocorax luxuosus, beau- 



! tifully figured by Cassin, has the head blue and black, and the body a parrot-like green ; it is 



1 above twelve inches long, and found in Texas and Mexico. Prince Maximilian's Jay, Gymno- 



kitta cyanoccj)hala, also figured by Cassin, is ten inches long; color ashy-blue; found in New 



Mexico and Nebraska. There are several other species in North America. 



Among the South American species are the Great Crested Jay, Cyanocorax pileatus, C. vio- 

 laceus, C. azuretis, Cyanocitta ornata, &c. 



Genus NUCIFRAGA : Nacifraga. — To this belongs the Nut-Cracker, N. caryocatactes — the 

 Casse noix of the French : size of the European jay ; color umber-brown, dappled with white spots; 

 nestles in hollow trees ; the eggs five or six ; feeds on insects, the seeds of pine, and berries ; 

 sometimes on young birds and eggs; it cracks nuts in the same manner as the nut-hatch ; found 

 in Central Europe ; rare in England. There are varieties of pure white and yellowish-white. 



THE CALLiEATIN^ OR TREE-CROWS. 



In these birds the upper mandible is not toothed at the tip ; the bill is short, with the ridge 

 much elevated at the base, and considerably curved ; the wings are short and rounded, the tail 

 long, the tarsi covered with transverse scales, and the two lateral toes are unequal. The species 

 are peculiar to the eastern hemisphere, of which they generally inhabit the warmer regions. The 

 typical species, Calloias cinerca, sometimes called the New Zealand Crow, in its habits resem- 

 bles the ordinary crows, feeding on fruits, insects, and occasionally on small birds; its general 

 color is a greenish-black, and on each side of the head there is a small wattle of a bright blue tint. 



THE CORVIX^ OR TRUE CROWS. 

 These, like the preceding, are destitute of the teeth at the tip of the upper mandible, the ridge 



