steller’s jay. 65 
has also the long', cuneiform tail of some, no less than 
P. bicolor their crest. 
The genus Garrulus has an extensive geographical 
range, being* found in all latitudes and longitudes. It 
is composed of about thirty species, nearly half of which 
may more properly be called jays : of the latter, there 
are but two in Europe, and though we have doubled 
the number given by Wilson, we think that others will 
yet be discovered in the wild western tracts of this 
continent. There exist imperfect accounts of two or 
three species inhabiting the countries near the Rocky 
Mountains, one of which is probably that here described, 
and others may prove to be some of the newly disco- 
vered Mexican species, one of which, the Garrula 
gubernatrix of Temminck, is so proudly beautiful. 
The Steller’s jay is more than twelve inches long. 
The bill measures one inch and a half, is entire, and 
totally black ; the bristly feathers over the nostrils are 
also wholly black. The feathers of the head are greatly 
elongated, forming a large crest, more than two and a 
half inches long, and, with the whole head and neck, 
entirely deep brownish black, grayish on the throat ; 
the feathers on each side of the front are slightly tipped 
with bright and light azure, thus forming a dozen or 
more of small dots on that part : on the neck, the brown 
becomes lighter, and extends down on the back, occu- 
pying the scapulars as well as the inner wing-coverts ; 
on the middle of the back the brown becomes somewhat 
tinged with bluish, and blends gradually into a fine 
bright blue colour, covering the rump and the upper 
tail-coverts : all the inferior parts from the neck, at the 
lower part of which the dusky colour passes into blue, 
are blue, somewhat tinged with gray, which is the 
general colour of the base of the plumage. The wings 
are nearly six inches in length ; the fourth, fifth, and 
sixth primaries being subequal and longest. All the 
outer wing-coverts and the secondaries are blue, faintly 
crossed with obsolete blackish lines ; the under wing- 
coverts are dusky ; the primaries are dark dusky, and, 
with the exception of the outer ones, at tip are edged 
VOL. iv. e 3 
