491 



GARBULUS ATRICAPILLUS. 



(SYRIAN JAY.) 



Garrulus atricapillus, Isid. Geoffr. St.-Hilaire, Etud. Zool. fasc. 1 (1832). 

 Corvus stridens, Hemp. & Ehrenb. Symb. Physic. Av. dec. 1 (1833). 

 Garrulus melanocephalus, Gene, Mem. Accad. Torin. xxxvii. p. 298 (1834). 

 Garrulus iliceti, Licht. Nomencl. Av. Mus. Berol. p. 9 (1854). 



d ad. fronte, facie laterali et gula, albis immaculatis : pileo cristato nigro immaculato : fascia nigra a rostro 

 angustiore et paullo longiore quam in G. glandario : dorso cum tectricibus alarum rufescenti-isabellinis, 

 illo versus uropygium pallidiore : uropygio albo, vix rufescente lavato : supracaudalibus albis : subtiis 

 albus, pectore imo, abdomine et hypochondriis rufescente isabellino lavatis : crisso et subcaudalibus 

 albis : alis ut in Garrulo krynicki picturatis, sed remigibus in pogonio externo magis albo notatis : 

 cauda, rostro, iride et pedibus ut in Garrulo krynicki. 



2 mari similis. 



Adult Male (Hebron, 8th February, 1864). Forehead, sides of head and face, and throat pure white, not 

 "washed with vinous, as in G. krynicki ; moustachial patch very narrow ; crest very black, rather narrow 

 and elongated; back and wing-coverts very pale fawn-brown or rufous buff; rump white, washed with 

 pale fawn-brown ; upper tail-coverts white, underparts white, on the breast, flanks, and upper part of 

 the abdomen washed with pale rufous buff; under tail-coverts white; wings and tail as in G. krynicki, 

 except that in the former the white patch is much more developed ; tail and soft parts as in G. krynicki. 

 Total length 13 inches, culmen 0-85, wing 7 - l, tail 6'0, tarsus 1*10. 



Obs. For long no little confusion has existed as regards the Black-headed Jays ; and whereas some authors 

 have lumped all together, others have subdivided them in various ways. I have therefore deemed 

 it necessary to collect together as large a series of Jays as possible, in order to decide as to which 

 species should stand ; and thanks to Lord Walden, Canon Tristram, Mr. Blanford, and others, I have 

 at last succeeded in examining a considerable number of specimens from various localities ; and taking 

 the species admitted by Mr. G. R. Gray in his well-known ' Hand-list,' I may make the following 

 remarks : — 



6070. G. glandarius, L., is the type of the present genus, and has been fully treated of in a former part. 

 6070 a. G. hyrcanus, Blanford (Ibis, 1873, p. 225), is a clearly distinct and good species, differing from the 



G. glandarius in being smaller in size, about equal to G. japonicus ; but, unlike this latter, it has the 

 crest dark vinous grey, washed with rufous, much darker and differently coloured than in G. glandarius, 

 the colour being about the same as that on the back of the latter species : the black on the face is 

 distributed as in G. glandarius. In one or two examples the tail is at the base conspicuously barred 

 with blue ; in others this character is very slightly defined. A specimen obtained in the Elburz moun- 

 tains in February measures — culmen l - 3'inch, wing 6'5, tail 53, tarsus 1-6. 

 So far as is at present ascertained, this species is only known from Persia. 



6071. G. japonicus differs from Garrulus glandarius in being considerably smaller in size, darker on the 

 back, and having more black on the face, this colour extending all round the eye ; the crest is white to 

 the nape, each feather having a broad black central line. I have several specimens before me, all from 



3c 



