GARRULUS sordidus. 

 Diusky -bodied Jay. 



Family Corvidie. Sub-family Gaiulin-te. Nob. 

 See Northern Zoology, 2. p. 288. 



Specific Character. 



Above dusky blue, brighter upon thccrotvn, wings, ond l<iil ; beneath 

 grey ; chin and belly rohiteish ; ears blackish ; tail dislincllt/ 

 rounded. 



Gari'ulus sorditlus. Swains. Si/nopsis, No. 66. {Phil. Mag. 

 June 1827.) 



The Jays, although alhed to the Crows, have many peculiar 

 characteristics. While the latter roam about and seek their 

 food in all situations, the Jays confine themselves to thick 

 Avoods, feeding upon fruits, insects, and eggs, and seldom 

 perch upon the ground. In unison with that symbolical 

 system which pervades all nature, we find a perl^(;t re- 

 presentation of this group in the Bush-Shrikes of the new 

 world . 



America seems to possess three Jays, closely resembling 

 each other, but each (if they have been described correctly) 

 having some peculiar distinction. As these have not been 

 clearly stated, and as some confusion has conse(|uently 

 crept into the subject, we shall shortly state their distinctions. 

 The Florida Jay of Prince C. Bonaparte, (G. Floridamus) 

 which has been thought the same as ours, is a much smaller 

 bird, being only ll|in. long, and the back is " yellowish 

 brown," not dusky blue, (See Bon. Am. Orn. 2. p. 61.) 

 The Garrulus ultramarinus of the same noble and learnetl 

 writer, appears to us from the following account, to be dis- 

 tinct from either. " Its principal characters may be found 

 in its larger dimensions, but especially in the shape of its 

 tail, which is perfectly even, and not in the least cuneiform, 

 as it generally is in all the Jays," {Am. Orn. 2. 62.) Now 

 the tail of our species is decidedly rounded, the outer feather 

 being full one inch shorter than the middle. 



The Garrulus sordidusm\\\\\n{ii the tableland of Mexico, 

 from whence our specimen was received. Total length, 14 

 in, ; bill, l| : wings, 7 ; tarsi, l/,, : tail, 6| in. 



86. 



