CORVIDJE — GABRULINM : JAYS. 425 



and small trees, bulky, of twigs with finer lining; eggs usually 3-4, 1.10 X 0.80, greenish- 

 drab, marked as usual with browns. 

 114. PEBISO'REUS. (Gr. ircpitraipeia), perisoreuo, I heap up; probably in allusion to the 

 hoarding or thievish propensities of jays.) Gray Jays. Not crested. Plumage soft, full and 

 lax, grayish or sooty. Bill very short, not deep but wide at base ; culmen little curved ; 

 gonys ascending. Wings and tail of approximately equal lengths; latter graduated. A 

 circumpolar and boreal or alpine genus, of one species in America, with several varieties. 



Analysis of Varieties. 



Dark hood moderate ; forehead white ; back brownish-gray, streaked . ... canadensis 359 



Dark hood extensive ; forehead smoky ; back brownish-gray, unstreaked . . ... fumifrcms 360 



Dark hood extensive ; forehead whitish ; back brownish, with white shaft-lines obscunis 301 



Dark hood restricted ; forehead extensively white ; back ashy-gray, unstreaked . . . cajntalis 362 



359. P. canaden'sis. (Of Canada. Fig. 276.) Canada Jay. Whiskey Jack. Moose- 

 bird. Gray, whitening on head, neck, and breast ; a dark cap on hind head and nape, sep- 

 arated by a gray cervical' collar from the ashy-plumbeous back ; wings and tail plumbeous, 

 the feathers obscurely tipped with whitish. Bill and feet black. Young : Much darker, 

 sooty or smoky-brown; the bleaching - progresses indefinitely with age. Length 10.00- 



11.00; extent about 16.00 ; wing 5.25- 



5.75 ; tail rather more, graduated;, tar- 

 sus 1.33 ; bill under 1, shaped like a 

 titmouse's. Arctic Am. into the N. 

 States, N. W. to Alaska ; breeds in 

 Maine and northward ; resident, and 

 seldom seen south of'its brebding range. 

 The " Wisskachon " (whence " whisk- Ni 

 ey John" and then "whiskey Jack") 

 is noted for the familiarity and impu- 



wm'M 



dence with which it hangs about the ~ x 



hunter's camp to steal provisions, for ^ \7S^^HHRf^)^ 'I ' f "}*fc^' /" 



consorting with moose, and for nesting ^WffVIPr/t r ( v I * V 



in winter or early spring. Nest usually 



on the bough of a spruce or other ooni- ^'S- 276. -Canada Jay, reduced. (Sheppard del. Nicholsso.) 



fer, a large substantial structure, of twigs, grasses, mosses, and feathers ; eggs 3-4, 1.20 X 



0.85, yellowish -gray to pale green, finely dotted and blotched with brown and slate, or lavender, 



especially about the larger end ; others more uniformly and largely blotched ; variation wide, 



as in other jays. 



360. P. c. fu'miJErons. (Lat. fumus, smoke ; frons, forehead.) Alaskan Jay. Smutty-nosed 

 Jay. Similar : coloration darker and dingier throughout ; white of forehead obscured or oblit- 

 erated by smoky-gray. Coast region of Alaska. 



361. I*, c. obscu'rus. (Lat. obscurus, obscure.) Oregon Jay. More different: dark hood 

 encroaching on crown, not well defined ; upper parts umber-brownish rather than plumbeous, 

 the feathers with white shaft-lines ; tail not distinctly tipped with whitish. Pacific coast 

 region, Oregon to Sitka, 



363. P. c. capita'Iis. (Lat. capitalis, capital, relating to the head, caput.) Rocky Mottktain 

 Jay. General color ashy-plumbeous, or leaden-gray, paler below ; wings and tail blackish, 

 with a peculiar glaucous shade, as if frosted or silvered over. The body-color giving way on 

 the breast and neck to whitish, established as hoary-white on the head, isolating the narrow 

 well-defined nuchal band of sooty-gray. No white lines on back ; tail-feathers distinctly tipped 

 with whitish, and much edging of the same on the wings. The clearer colors generally — back 

 rather bluish-gray than brownish-gray, very white head with narrow nuchal band — produce 



