277 
CROWS, JAYS, MAGPIES, ETC. 
GENUS XANTHOURA. 
483. Xanthoura luxuosa glaucescens Ridgw. Gkeen Jay. 
Adults. — Throat and sides of head jet black, in sharp contrast to pale 
green or yellowish green of under parts; top of head and malar streak 
bluish purple, with touch of white on forehead; rest of upper parts bluish 
green, usually extensively tinged with pale blue; tail with middle feathers 
bluish green, outer feathers pale yellow. Young: similar, but duller, head 
greenish blue instead of purple ; upper parts apple green without bluish 
tinge ; under parts buffy, faintly tinged with green. Length: 11-12, wing 
4.40-4.80, tail 5.10-5.80. 
Distribution. — From Valley of the Lower Rio Grande in Texas south to 
Vera Cruz and Puebla. 
Nest. — Concealed in thickets, made of thorny twigs sparingly lined with 
rootlets, moss, grass, and hair. Eggs: usually 4, grayish, greenish, or 
buffy, marked with lilac and brown, massed around the larger end. 
GENUS PERISOREUS. 
General Characters. — Head not crested; plumage soft, full, and loose ; 
bill short and wide at base, nostrils exposed; wings and tail about equal, 
tail graduated. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
1. Whole top of head white. capitalis, p. 277. 
1'. Top of head black except for white forehead. 
2. Back brownish .obscurus, p. 278. 
2'. Back gray. East of Coast and Cascade ranges . . griseus, p. 279. 
484a. Perisoreus canadensis capitalis Ridgw. Rocky Moun¬ 
tain Jay. 
Adults. — Top of head white shading to dark gray on back of neck; rest 
of upper parts light slate 
gray ; tail tipped with white ; 
throat whitish ; rest of under 
parts brownish gray. Young : 
top of head dull white, tinged 
with grayish brown. Length : 
11.25-18.00, wing 5.90-6.80, 
tail 5.80-6.35, bill .97-1.08. 
Distribution. — From Brit¬ 
ish America south to Arizona 
and New Mexico in the 
Rocky Mountain regions. 
Nest. — As described by 
Dr. Brewer, of pine twigs 
holding a compactly woven 
inner nest of stems, plant 
fibers, feathers, bark, and down, placed on the horizontal branch of a 
pine 40 feet from the ground, containing 3 eggs, grayish white blotched 
with purplish brown, in two, only around the larger end, in one, over the 
entire egg. 
Food. — Meat, insects, acorns, and whatever offers. 
The Rocky Mountain jay, like the other species of the Perisoreus 
genus, is notoriously a camp bird. As it lives all the year in the deep 
