672 



APPENDIX. 



[No. V. 



time before in possession of a specimen from Hudson's Bay. It has no doubt been 

 confounded with the Common Magpie (Corvus Pica,) to which it bears much resem- 

 blance. Pennant in the Arctic Zoology mentions the Magpie as occasionally visiting 

 Hudson's Bay, where it is called by ; the natives the Heart Bird, but he does not 

 notice any difference in its appearance. Forster, in the Philosophical Transac- 

 tions in 1772, also says that the Magpie, then received from Hudson's Bay, did not 

 differ from the European one. The Common Magpie is described and figured in 

 Wilson's American Ornithology, as a rare bird in the United States, and only lately 

 discovered in the Missouri country; but as specimens of it have also been received 

 from Hudson's Bay, there is little doubt that both species are inhabitants of the 

 New World. The Hudson's Bay Magpie is of less size in all its parts than the 

 Common Magpie, except in its tail, which exceeds that of its congener in length ; but 

 the most remarkable and obvious difference is, in a loose tuft of greyish and white 

 feathers on the back. The following is a description of the bird under notice: 

 — length, exclusive of the tail, seven inches ; head, neck, breast, and upper part of the 

 back pure black ; belly and scapulars white ; the primaries brownish black, partly 

 white on the inner web ; secondaries and greater coverts dark glossy blue ; across 

 the back is a tuft of long soft loose feathers projecting above the others, dark grey 

 below, and tipped with white ; thighs, vent, and tail coverts black like the upper 

 parts ; tail truly wedge-shaped (etagee,) from eleven and a half to twelve inches long, 

 (that of the Common Magpie being from nine to ten inches,) richly glossed with 

 blue, green, and purple, the two exterior feathers half the length of the two middle 

 ones, which are two inches longer than those next to them ; bill, legs, and claws 

 black. Two specimens were received, both killed on the 10th of November 1819, at 

 Cumberland House, being caught in traps ; they were male and female, but there is 

 no difference in the sexes, except that one rather exceeds the other in length, the 

 one marked as female, being the largest. 



Corvus Cristatus. Blue Jay. 



A well-known bird inhabiting all parts of North America, but confined solely to 

 that country. Linnaeus adopted the bird from Catesby into the Systema Naturce ; but 

 it was not well described until Wilson's publication, when he corrected the errors of 

 former writers, and described its habits and manners in the beautiful and delightful 

 style so peculiarly his own. 



Corvus Canadensis. Canada Jay. 



The Canada Jay is confined to the northern parts of America, visiting the southern 

 parts only in very severe weather, as it does not regularly migrate. Wilson only once 

 saw a few of them together in the United States. His figure of the bird is too highly 

 coloured. In Canada, these birds are abundant, and well known, being of familiar 



