146 BLACK-HEADED JAY. 
top of the head is entirely black. The cheeks im the 
common species are the same colour as the back—red- 
dish grey; in this they are white like the throat. The 
Common Jay is considera longer (quite two = 
than our species.” 
The Black-headed Jay is an imbhabitant of Synia, 
where it replaces the common species, and M. Crolla 
says lt is never found there with a different plumage. 
It is found also throughout the whole of Greece, the 
Crimea, -and the Caucasus. 
M. Temminck has examined specimens from each of 
these countries, and found no difference except in the 
size; those from Greece were twelve inches; that from 
the Caucasus thirteen. 
M. Degland, in his “Ornith. Europ.,” differs from 
‘emminck on this point. He says that the specimens 
from Syria and Algeria differ sensibly from the Caucasian 
species. ‘They are not only smaller, but have the tuft 
less; the cheeks, the throat, and a part of the front of 
the neck white, and not reddish ash; the blue of the 
wings is less extended, and of a brighter tint; the taik 
has on all its quills transverse bars of bluish ash, (the 
most lateral of each side excepted,) while there are only — 
a few bands on the median in the Caucasian species. — 
he beak in the latter is thicker, and approaches nearer 
to that of the Common Jay. 
Degland doubted whether this bird was ever found 
in Greece, as stated by Temminck, as M. Von der 
Mihle never met with it there during a six-year’s 
residence. . 
For these reasons Degland considered it most probabil 
that the Black-headed Jay of Asia Minor and Algeria 
does not occur in Europe, and that the Caucasian race 
is the only one that does. He therefore prefers the 
