2(34 NORTH AJIERIOAN BIRDS. 



A. Nostrils morleratc, complctolj' covered by inoiinihent feathers. 



a. Tail iiiiich longer tliiiii the wings; first primary attenuated, falcate. 



Pica. Ileail without iMost. 



b. Tail nlioiit as long as the wings; first primary not falcate. 



Cyanura. Head with lengthened narrow erest. Wing and tail 

 blue, baniled with black. 



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

 on the back. No bands on wing and tail. 



Zanthoura. Head without crest. Color above greenish; the 

 head bine ; lateral tail-feathers yellow. 



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

 with white feathers over the nostrils. Pliunage dull, 

 B« Nostrils very lai-gc, naked, uncovered by feathers. 



Fsilorhinus. Head not crested ; tail broad ; wings two thirds as 

 long as the tail. 



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

 long as the tail. 



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

 chief dift'erence being in size rather than in any r>ther distinguishing' feature. 

 The leatliers at the base of the bill, however, in the Jays, are bristly throngh- 

 oiit, with lateral Imanclies reaching to the very tip. In rarida' these feathers 

 arc inclined to be broader, with the shaft pnjjccting consi;lerably beyond the 

 basal portion, or the lateral branches arc confined to the basal jiortion, and 

 extended forwards. There is no naked line of separation between the 

 scutellic on the outer side of the tarsi. The ))asal joint of the middle toe 

 is united almost or quite to the end to the lateral, instead of half-w.ay. 

 The first jirimary is u.sually less than half the second, instead of rather 

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

 fiitli being longer than the fourth. 



Ge.\o.s pica, Cuvier, 



Corridas, biNX.Kr.s, Syst. Nat. ITM.") (tln.vv). 



I'U-ii, i'litissoN, l)riutli(ilogi:i, 17iii>, ami of t'ltvii-r (.VoAssiz). (Type, Corvus pica, L.) 



Clcpks, (lA.MliKl,, ,1. A. N. Sc. 2cl .Ser. 1, 1S47,47. 



Gkx. Cn.vn. Tail very long, forming much more than half the total length ; the 

 feathers nnich gradnatcMl ; ihe lateral scarcely more than half the middle. First, primary 

 fali.'ate, curved, and atlenuate<l. liill about as high as linia<l at the ba.'se ; the culmen and 

 gonys nnicli curved, and almut c(|ual; the bristly feathers reaching nearly to the middle 

 of the bill. Nostrils nearly circular. Tarsi very lung; middle toe scarcely more than 

 two thirds the length. A ]y,\tf\i of naked skin lienealh and l)ehind the eye. 



The ]XH;uliar characteristic of this geiuis, in addition to the very long 

 grailuatetl tail, lies in the attcnnatcd, falcate first primary, ('(dofittn, which 

 hits an equally long or longer tnil, has {\u\ first primary as in the Jays 

 generally (besides having the nostrils exposed). 



