70 
GARRULUS FLO RID ANUS. 
passes down along’ the breast, and forms a somewhat 
obscure collar ; the under wing 1 and under tail-coverts 
are strongly tinged with blue, which colour is also 
slightly apparent on the femorals ; the inferior surface 
of the wings and tail is dark silvery gray ; the base of 
the plumage is plumbeous ash, blackish on the head ; 
the wings are four and a half inches long, and reach, 
when closed, hardly beyond the coverts of the tail, 
which is five and a half inches long, extending beyond 
the wings three and a half ; the spurious feather is 
extremely short; the first primary, (often mistaken for 
the second,) is as short as the secondaries; the five 
succeeding are subequal, the third and fourth being 
rather the longest. The tail is somewhat wedge-shaped, 
the outer feather being half an inch shorter than the 
next, and one inch and a half shorter than the middle 
one. The tarsus is an inch and a quarter long, and 
black, as well as the toes and nails. 
The female is perfectly similar to the male, being but 
a trifle less in size, and quite as brilliant in plumage. 
Two years since, it fell to our lot to describe, and 
apply the name of ultramarine jay, ( Garrulus ultra - 
marinus ,) to a species found in Mexico, closely re- 
sembling this, and to which Mr Swainson, in his Synopsis 
of 'Mexican Birds , has lately given the riame of Garrulus 
sordidus , his specimen being probably a young one. 
The principal distinctive characters may be found in its 
larger dimensions, but especially in the shape of its tail, 
which is perfectly even, and not in the least cuneiform, 
as it generally is in the jays. The back, though it is 
also somewhat intermixed with dusky, is much more 
blue than in our species, and indeed the whole azure 
colour is somewhat more brilliant and silky; the bluish 
collar is wanting, and the under wing, but especially 
the under tail-coverts, are much less tinged with blue. 
The wings, moreover, are proportionally larger. 
