BLUE JAY. 
S53 
tl'ciii, and, in defiance of their ivincing- and kicking', 
picked many places quite raw. The difficulty of pro- 
curing food rendered those birds so bold, as to alight on 
Cur men’s arms, and eat meat out of their hands.”# 
Tlie magpie is eighteen inches in leng'th ; the head, 
•'cck, upper part of the breast and back, are a deep 
'■elvety black ; primaries, brownish black, streaked 
^ong their inner vanes with white; secondaries, rich 
purplish blue ; greater coverts, green blue; scapulars, 
iorver part of the breast and belly, white; thighs and 
^«nt, black ; tail, long; the two e.vterior feathers scarcely 
^f the length of the longest, the others iucreasiiig 
the two middle ones, which taper towards their 
Cstremities. The colour of this part of the plumage is 
'^ery splendid, being glossy green, dashed with blue and 
'‘right purple; this hast col our bounds the green; nostrils, 
Covered with a thick tuft of recumbent hairs, as are 
ulso the sides of the mouth ; bill, legs, and feet, glossy 
‘‘lack. The female differs only in the less brilliancy 
of her plumage. 
SCIiCESa’S 11. — GAnBUI.US, bbisson. 
63. COBruS CBISTATBS, WBIS BLUEJAV. 
WILSON, PLATE I. FICl. I. 
This elegant bird, •which, as far as I can learn, is 
Peculiar to North America, is distinguished as a kind 
of beau among the feathered tenants of our woods, by 
fhe brilliancy of his dress; and, like most other cox- 
Oombs, makes himself still more conspicuous by his 
"Oquacity, and the oddness of his tones and gestures. 
”ho jay measures eleven inches iii length; the head is 
OiTianiented with a crest of light blue or jmrplo feathers, 
JJ’hich he can elevate or depress at jileasure ; a narrow 
o.Ue of black runs along the frontlet, rising on each 
®'le higher than the eye, but not passing over it, as 
f-'atesby has represented, and as Pennant and many 
* Pike’s Journal, p. 170. 
