CHAP. II THE ELEMENTARY FACTS OF DISTRIBUTION 21 



birds they are sure to have been collected, or at least 

 noticed, wherever they occur. There are, so far as yet 

 known, twelve species of true jays, occupying an area 

 extending from Western Europe to Eastern Asia and 

 Japan, and nowhere passing the Arctic circle to the north, 

 or the tropic of Cancer to the south, so that they constitute 

 one of the most typical of the Patearctic ^ genera. The 

 following are the species, beginning with the most westerly 

 and proceeding towards the east. The numbers prefixed 

 to each species correspond to those on the coloured map 

 which forms the frontispiece to this volume. 



1. Gar.Tulus glandarucs. — The common jay, inhabits the 

 British Isles and all Europe except the extreme north, 

 extending also into North Africa, where it has been 

 observed in many parts of Algeria. It occurs near 

 Constantinople, but apparently not in Asia Minor ; and in 

 Russia, up to, but not beyond, the Urals. The jays being 

 woodland birds are not found in open plains or barren 

 uplands, and their distribution is hence by no means 

 uniform within the area they actually occupy. 



2. Garridus cervicalis, — The Algerian jay, is a very 

 distinct species inhabiting a limited area in North Africa, 

 and found in some places along with the common species. 



3. Garruhcs krynicld, — The black-headed jay, is closely 

 allied to the common species, but quite distinct, inhabiting 

 a comparatively small area in South-eastern Europe, and 

 Western Asia. 



4. Garruhcs atricapillus. — The Syrian jay, is very closely 

 allied to the last, and inhabits an adjoining area in Syria, 

 Palestine, and Southern Persia. 



5. Garridus hyrcanus, — The Persian jay, is a small 

 species allied to our jay and only known from the Elburz 

 Mountains in the north of Persia. 



6. Garridus hrandti, — Brandt's jay, is a very distinct 

 species, having an extensive range across Asia from the 

 Ural Mountains to North China, Mandchuria, and the 

 northern island of Japan, and also crossing the Urals into 



^ The Pal?earctic region includes temperate Asia and Europe, as wil] be 

 explained in the next chapter. 



