484 COLUMBIA JAY. 



time retain the usual generic name for the present splendid species, which 

 has the bill of nearly the same form as the true Crows, combined with the 

 elongated tail, and lively colouring of the Jays. 



Were I to relate to you, good reader, the various accounts which I 

 have heard respecting this splendid bird, I should have enough to say ; 

 but as I have resolved to confine myself entirely to the results of my own 

 observation, I must for the present remain silent on the subject. 



The specimen from which the drawings were taken was presented to 

 me by a friend who had received it from the Columbia River, and is the 

 only individual represented in the volume which I did not myself pro- 

 cure on the spot. However, as I expect to ramble again through our 

 vast forests and extensive territories, I may yet be enabled to give you a 

 full account of this beautiful bird, which, from the splendour of its plu- 

 mage, deserves all the attention of the naturalist. In the mean time I 

 adjoin a notice respecting it, with which I have latelv been favoured by 

 my friend, the Prince of Musignano. " Le superbe geai, dont vous me 

 parlez, est sans doute Toiseau que Waglek a fait connaitre le premier, 

 sous le nom de Pica BullocJdi, et que Temminck a figure dans ses planches 

 coloriees, sous ceUui de Garrula Gubernatrix. Son nom legitime, suivant 

 mes principes, sera Garrulus Bullochii, mais vous avez raison de dire 

 qu'il ne se trouve pas dans mon Synopsis : ce n'est que par votre lettre que 

 j'ai appris qu'il se trouvait dans le territoire des Etats-unis. Jusqu"'a pre- 

 sent on ne Tavait trouve qu'au Mexique et a la Californie. II n'est pas 

 etonnant qu''il se retrouve sur la riviere Columbia. Mais comment Tavez- 

 vous obtena et avez-vous pu le dessiner vivant? Trois autres especes 

 de geais, qui ne sont pas dans mon Synopsis, habitent I'extremite nord de 

 TAmerique, et il est probable, qu' outre votre superbe geai commandeur, 

 plusieurs autres des especes Mexicaines se retrouvent dans sa partie oc- 

 cidentale." 



CoRvus BuLLOCKii, Wagler. 



Bill of ordinary length, straight, robust, compressed ; upper mandi- 

 ble with the dorsal outline straightish at the base, declinate and convex 

 towards the tip, which is deflected, the sides convex, the edges rather 

 sharp ; lower mandible with the dorsal outhne slightly concave towards 

 the base, convex and ascending towards the tip. Nostrils basal, oval, 



