406 
STELLER’S JAY. 
new species with a stout bill took its place, in defiance of the 
genuine characters. Under such circumstances the task of the 
ornithologist, who professed to be guided by philosophical 
principles, was, doubtless, not merely to subdivide, but to make 
an entire reformation. Illiger, with his usual judgment, per- 
ceived the evil, and attempted its remedy ; but his genus was 
still too extensive, and, besides, was not natural, as it included 
the wax-wings, a very distinct genus, that had always been 
forced into others. The only advantage it possessed over that 
of Latham was, that all the species it comprised exhibited its 
artificial characters. As restricted by Brisson, Vieillot, and 
lately adopted by Temminck, by whom it was previously much 
limited, it is perfectly natural ; though we cannot help remark- 
ing that some even of the eighteen species enumerated by the 
latter in his article on the generalities of the crows, in the 
Planches Coloriees^ may again be separated, such as Corvus Co- 
lumhianus^ Wils., which ought, perhaps, to constitute a genus 
by itself. Vieillot, and other recent writers on ornithology, 
have long since adopted the genus Garruliis as distinct even 
from Pica, though we prefer retaining the latter merely as a 
subgenus of Garrulus, since it is absolutely impossible to draw 
the line of separation between them without resorting to mi- 
nute and complicated distinctions. 
The jays and magpies, in fact, require to be distinguished 
from the crows, as a genus, on account of their form, colour, 
habits, and even their osseous structure. Their upper mandible j 
somewhat inflected at tip, and the navicular shape of the lower, 
afford obvious characteristic marks. Their wings, too, are 
rather short, and do not reach by a considerable space to the 
tip of the tail, which is long, and more or less rounded, some- 
times greatly wedge-shaped. On the contrary, the crows have 
long wings, reaching almost or quite to the extremity of the 
tail, which is short, and even at tip. The identity in the shape 
of the wings and tail, and even the colours of their plumage, 
which agree in all the species, and in different climates, ren- 
der the crows a very natural and well marked group. The 
