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ULTRAMA|RINE JAY. 
CoRVUS ULTRAMARINUS. 
PLATE CCCLXII. Apoutrt. 
A.tuoucH the Ultramarine Jay has been described by. Mr Swatn- 
son, in his Synopsis of the Birds of Mexico, under the name of Gar- 
rulus sordidus, I retain the specific name “ ultramarinus,” previously 
given by the Prince of Musienano. The only observations respecting 
its habits that I am. aware of having been made, are the following, 
for which I am indebted to my friend Tuomas Nurratt. 
* Jwarly in October, on arriving in the forests of the Columbia,. 
near Fort Vancouver, an establishment of the Hudson’s Bay Company, 
we saw in the same situations with the Steller’s Jay, the. present spe-: 
cies. Its habits are much like those of the Common Jay. It usually. 
flies out to the tops of the lofty pines, jerks its tail, and perches play-. 
fully on some extreme branch, where it utters at times, as if excited 
by petulent anger, a strong whoit, wott, woit, woit, after which expres- 
sion it emits a sort of recognition-call at short intervals, twee, and 
sometimes a shorter "twee twee. When much pursued, it sits still in 
the concealing shade of the lofty branches on which it seeks refuge. 
It feeds on insects, acorns broken up, and probably pine seeds. They 
appear to associate in roving families throughout the fall and winter, 
like the other species, seldom if ever associating with the more Com- 
mon Steller’s Jay, though now and then perhaps in the same tree.’ It 
is a graceful, active, and rather shy species, flying out straight from 
tree to tree, remarkable by its long tail and rather short wings; and 
its note is much less harsh and loud than that of Steller’s Jay. They 
breed in the dark pine woods probably where we so frequently saw 
them alight, and on the 15th of June they were feeding their fully 
fledged young, two of which I pursued for some time, but they skulked 
so effectually as to escape me after a long and doubtful chase. The 
young had a great predominance of grey on the back. The same spe- 
cies also extends into Upper California.” 
Adult Male. Plate CCCLXII. Fig. 3. 
