SPECIES 6. CORVUS CRISmTUS. 
BLUE JAY. 
[Plate 1. — Fig 1.] 
Linn. Syst. i, p. 106, JV'o. 8, ed. 10. — Garrulus canadensis coeru- 
leus, Briss. II, p. 55. — Pica glandaria cristata, Klein, p. 61, 
3. — Le Geai bleu de I’Jlmerique Septentrionale, Buff, hi, p. 
120. PI. Enl. 529. — Blue .lay, Catesb. Car. i, 15 . — Edw. 239. 
— Jlrct. Zool. II, JV'o. 138. — Lath. Syn. \,p. 386, 20. — Baktram, 
p. 290. — Peale’s Museum, JV*o. 1290. 
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 the brilliancy of his dress; 
and like most other coxcombs, makes himself still more con- 
spicuous by his loquacity, and the oddness of his tones and 
gestures. The Jay measures eleven inches in length; the head 
is ornamented with a crest of light blue or purple feathers, which 
he can elevate or depress at pleasure; a narrow line of black 
runs along the frontlet, rising on each side higher than the eye, 
but not passing over it, as Catesby has represented, and as Pen- 
nant and many others have described it; back and upper part of 
the neck a fine 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 former slightly tinged with blue; greater 
wing coverts a rich blue; exterior sides of the primaries light 
blue, those of the secondaries a deep purple, except the three 
feathers next the body, which are of a splendid light blue; all 
these, except the primaries, are beautifully barred with cres- 
