254 
CORVUS CRISTATUS. 
others have described it; back and upper part of th? 
neck, a iine light purple, in which the blue predominates! 
a collar of black, proceeding from the hind head, passes 
with a graceful curve down each side of the neck to 
the upper part of the breast, where it forms a crescent ! 
chin, cheeks, throat, and belly, white, the three formef 
slightly tinged with blue ; greater wing-coverts, a rich 
blue ; exti'rior sides of the primaries, light blue, thos« 
of the secondaries, a deep purple, except the three 
feathers next the body, which are of a splendid light 
blue; all these, excej/t the primaries, are beautifully 
barred with crescents of black, and tipt with white! 
the interior sides of the wing feathere are dusky black! 
tail long and cuneiform, composed of twelve feathers ot 
a glossy light blue, marked at half inches with transverse 
curves of black, each feather being tipt with white, 
except the two middle ones, which deepen into a dark 
purple at the extremities. Breast and sides under the 
wings, a dirty white, faintly shiiued with purple ; inside 
of the mouth, the tongue, bill, legs, and claws, black! 
iris of the eye, hazel. 
The blue jay is an almost universal inhabitant oj 
the woods, frequenting the thickest settlements as wch 
as the deepest recesses of the forest, where his squalliui 
voice often alarms the deer, to the disappointment an® 
mortification of the hunter, — one of ivhom informci 
me, that he made it a point, in summer, to kill everV 
jay he could meet with. In the charming season 0‘ 
spring, when every thicket pours forth harmony, the 
part performed by the j. ay always catches the car. 
appears to be among his fellow musicians what the 
trumpeter is in a band, some of his notes having h® 
distant resemblance to the tones of that instrument- 
These he has the faculty of changing through a great 
variety of modulations, according to the parliculftt 
humour ho happens to bo in. BHien disposed fot 
ridicule, there is scarce a bird whose peculiarities ot 
song he cannot tune his notes to. When engaged in th® 
blandishments of love, they resemble the soft chattet' 
ings of a duck, and, while he nestles among the thick 
