CUKVID^E — THE CROWS. 



303 



Fort Benton, April 23, J. A. MuUan). Gciioi'ally ashy-plumbeous, with a deciJecl bluish 

 cast to wings anil tail ; orbital region, lores, tbrehead, and nasal tufts blaokisli ; crown, a 

 broad space l)clow tlic eye Ironi the bill iicross tiie aurioulars, with the middle of the 

 abdomen, pale hoary-asliy. Wings and tail as in tliL adult. 



This race, very (lifl'ereut from the two styles found to the westward and 

 eastward of it, is peculiar to Itocky Mountain regions, and apparently only 

 occurring soutli of the northern boundary of the United States. A very 

 large series of specimens, brought in at various times from numerous lo- 

 calities, substantiate the constancy of the characters pointed out above. 



Genus FSILORHINUS, Rl'ppell. 



Psilorkinus, RtJi'i'KLL, Mus. Senck. 1837, 188. (Type, Pkamorio, Wagler.) 



Char. Color very dull brown above. Bill very stout, compressed, without notch ; 

 higher than broad at the nostrils ; culmen curved from the base. Nostrils rounded ; the 



PsilorMnm morio. 



anterior extremity rounded off into the bill ; not covered by bristlt-.-., but fully exposed. 

 Tail rather longer than the wings, graduated ; the lateral feather three fourths the 

 longest; secondaries and tcrtials nearly as long as the primaries. Legs stout tind short, 

 not equal to the head, and little longer than the bill from base. 



This genus embraces Jays of larj^e size and very dull plumage. The tliick 

 bill, with the much curved culmen, tlie moderate tail, and tlie open nostrils, 

 may serve to distinguisli it from its allies. Tlie nostril is very large, and its 

 anterior portion is bevelled off to a greater degree tlian in any genus, except 

 in Calocitta. This last-mentioned genua lias the same fo: of l)ill anil of 

 nostrils, but the head has a long recurved crest ; tlie tail is twice as long as 

 the wings ; the lateral feather nearly half the middle ; tlie lateral tarsal 

 plates scutellate for the inferior lialf, etc. 



