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pressed close to it and covering the nostrils. The Woodpeckers and the 

 Titmice have a suggestion of this, but the latter are all small and the former 

 well characterized otherwise. They are not songsters in any sense of the 

 term; their voice is hoarse and raucous, but the complexity of their vocal 

 organs is very great and some of them can be taught to articulate words. 

 They are amongst our most intelligent species and by some authors have 

 been put at the head of the whole avian list. 



Subfamily — Garrulinae. Magpies and Jays. 



Medium-sized birds, many of them brilliantly coloured and with 

 ornamental crests and flowing tails. They can be most easily recognized 

 under their specific headings. 



Genus — Pica. Magpies. 



475. Magpie. American magpie, fh. — la pie d'ameeique. Pica pica. L, 15-20. 

 (Tail 10.) Only slightly larger in body than a Blue Jay but much longer owing to the 

 great tail some 10 inches long. Strikingly coloured in sharply contrasted masses of black 

 and white. Head, neck to upper breast, back, tail, and much of wings, black, glossed 

 with green on wings and tail. A conspicuous white bar on shoulders over wings. Inner 

 webs of primaries, lower breast, and below, all white. 



Distinctions. Easily recognized by the very long tail and the strong black and white 

 contrasts in colouring. 



Distribution. As a species the Magpie occurs in the north temperate regions of 

 both the New and Old Worlds. The American form is properly a bird of the west, regularly 

 coming to the central prairie provinces and occasionally farther east. 



SUBSPECIES. The American Magpie is a subspecies, under the trinomial P. p. 

 hudsonia, of a species common to both New and Old Worlds, and differs from the European 

 form in slight details only. This is a matter for experts. 



The Magpie is with some doubt included among the native birds of 

 eastern Canada. The species is common in the far west and we have a 

 number of records in the Maritime Provinces and lower Great Lakes 

 region as well substantiated as is possible without specimens. In 1879 

 a number of Magpies imported from England were liberated at Levis 

 opposite Quebec. Some of the records may refer to descendants of these 

 introduced birds and not to natives. Specimens for the determination 

 of these eastern birds are greatly desired. The species is too rare to 

 require economic discussion. 



Genus — Cyanocitta. Blue Jays. 



477. Blue Jay. fr. — le geai bleu htjppe. Cyanocitta cristata. L, 11-74. Plate 

 XXIV A. 



Distinctions. Well characterized by crest and colour. 



Field Marks. The predominance of blue in the general coloration, the white tail 

 borders, and the crest. The flight of the Blue Jay is easily recognizable. Its numerous 

 calls are distinctive, ranging from the loud raucous "Jay-jay," through its barn-door squeak, 

 to many quiet conversational chuckles. 



Nesting. Nest of twigs and rootlets 10 to 20 feet from the ground. 



Distribution. Eastern America from the borders of settlement to the gulf of Mexico. 

 Breeds wherever found in Canada. 



The Blue Jay is alert, inquisitive, and mischievous. A strange noise 

 in the woods or a moving figure attracts him and he steals quietly up 

 to it; on discovering an enemy he flees shrieking away in exaggerated 



