418 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— PASSEBES— OSCINES. 



344. 



108. 



345. 



acute and much curved, especially that of the hind toe ; the lateral reaching heyond base of the 

 middle claw. Coloration peculiar ; gray, with black-and-white wings and tail. Habits much 

 the same as those of Nucifragaj alpine and sub-boreal, pinicoline, and pinivorous. One 

 species, confined to W. Amer. 



P. colnmbia'nus. (Of the Columbia River. Fig. 270.) Clarke's Crow. $ ? , adult : 

 Gray, often bleaching on the head ; wings glossy black, most of the secondaries broadly tipped 



with white ; tail white, including 

 tlie under coverts ; the central 

 feathers and usually part of th( 

 next pair, together with the up- 

 per coverts, black. Bill and feci 

 black. Iris brown. Length 

 about 12.50; extent 22.00; wing 

 7.00-8.00; tail 4.00-5.00; tar- 

 sus 1.35; bill averaging 1.67; 

 feet from 1.25 to 1.75. Sexes 

 alike in color, but 9 smaller than 

 ^ . Young similar, but browner 

 ash. There is great difference 

 Fig. 270. —Claxke's Crow, reduced. {Sbeppard del. Nichols sc) jn the shade in adults, the 

 plumage when fresh being more glaucous-ash, wearing browner, and also bleaching in patches, 

 especially on head. Coniferous belt of the West, N. to Sitka, S. to Mexico, E. to Nebraska, 

 W. to the Coast Ranges ; the American representative of the European nutcracker, Nucifraga 

 caryocatactej ; abundant, imperfectly gregarious. A remarkable bird, wild, restless, and noisy, 

 sometimes congregating by thousands in the pineries of the W., roving in search of food. 

 Breeds high in pines, in alpine and northerly localities, concealing the nest with care ; nest of 

 sticks as a basis, on which bark-strips, grasses, and other fibrous substances are well matted 

 together. Eggs 1.20 X 0.90, light grayish-green, speckled and blotched with grayish-brown 

 and hlac, chiefly about the larger end. 



GYMNOCIT'TA. (Gr. yu^Kor, gumnos, naked, as the nostrils are ; Kirra, Ktta, a jay.) Blue, 

 Crows. Bill of peculiar shape, with nearly straight culmen mounting on forehead, thus some- 

 what as in SiurneUa, between 

 the prominent and somewhat 

 antrorse antise, which, how- 

 over, do not hide the nostrils ; 

 slender, tapering, acute, not 

 notched; gonys straightish, 

 scarcely ascending. Nostrils 

 small, oval, entirely exposed. 

 Tail nearly square, much 

 shorter than wings. Wings 

 long, pointed, folding nearly 

 to end of tail; 4th primary 

 longest, 3d and 5th scarcely Fig. 271. — Blue Crow, nat. size; ouIiulu too convex. (Ad iiat. del. E.C.) 

 shorter ; 2d shorter, 1st shorter still. Feet stout, indicating somewhat terrestrial habits ; tar- 

 sus longer than middle toe without claw, the envelope subdivided behind towards the bottom. 

 Claws all large, strong, and much curved. Color bluish, nearly uniform : sexes alike. One 

 species. 



G. cyanoce'phala. (Gr. xiavos, huanos^ blue ; KK^aKrj, Itephale, head. Fig. 271.) Blue 

 Ckow. $ : Dull blue, very variable in intensity, nearly uniform, but brightest on head, fading- 



