574 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS-ZOOLOGY-GENERAL REPORT. 
GYMNOKITTA, P r. Max. 
Gymnorhinus, Pr. Max. Reise Nord. Amer. II, 1841, 21. Type G. cyanocephala. 
Gymnokitta, Pr. Max. “ 1850,” Gray. 
Cyanocephalus, Bonap. “ 1842,” Preoccupied in Botany. 
Cn.—Bill elongated, depressed, shorter than the tarsus, longer than the head, without notch, similar to that of Sturnella 
in shape. Culmen nearly straight ; commissure curved ; gonys ascending. Nostrils small, oval, entirely exposed, the bristly 
feathers at the base of the bill being very minute. -Tail short, nearly even, much shorter than the pointed wings, which cover 
three-fourths of the tail. Tarsi considerably longer than the middle toe. 
This is a very remarkable genus of Corvidae , and is readily distinguished among North 
American forms by the naked nostrils, and short, even tail. The nostrils are small and oblong, 
not circular, the anterior wall scooped out. There is a striking likeness in the shape of the 
bill to that of Sturnella ludoviciana , even to the depressed culmen at the base, extending back 
into the forehead. With a general resemblance to Picicorvus in the attenuation of the bill, the 
culmen is nearly straight to near the tip ; the gonys convex at the base, then straight, and 
ascending ; the tip of the bill in both is broad, flat, and without notch. The edges of the bill 
are not inflected towards the base, as in Picicorvus. The tarsi are proportionately longer, the 
lateral toes shorter. 
In both genera there is a slight indication of a row of small scales along the posterior edge 
of the tarsi on the inner edge. 
The proper generic name for this species is a matter of some uncertainty. In the first edition 
of Gray’s list of genera, in 1840, Gymnorhina was proposed for a genus of Corvidae , which, 
according to his views, prevented the subsequent use of Gymnorhinus of Prince Maximilian. 
The year quoted for the latter name is 1843, but this is the date of the French translation, the 
original German work bearing the imprint of 1841. It is a question whether both names cannot 
be used, as I have contended in other instances. In the present case, however, as the new 
appellation for the group is by the same author as the old one, and the conflicting names are in 
the same family, it may, perhaps, be as well to accept Gymnokitta. I have not been able to lay 
my hand on the place where this genus is first introduced. 
GYMNOKITTA CYANOCEPHALA, Pr. Max. 
Maximilian’s Jay. 
Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus , Pr. Maximilian, Reise in das innere Nord Amerika, II, 1841,21.— Ib. Voyage dans Am. 
du Nord, III, 1843, 296. 
Gymnokitta cyanocepliala, “ Pr. Map. ” 1850,” Bp. Conspectus,'1850, 382.— Cassin, Illust. I, vi, 1854,165 ; pi. xxviii. — 
Newberry, Rep. P. R. R. VI, iv, 1857, 83. 
Psilorhinus cyanocephalus , Gray, Genera. 
Cyanocorax cassinii, M’Call, Pr. A. N. Sc. V, June, 1851,216. 
Sp. Ch.— Wings considerably longer than the tail, and reaching to within an inch of its tip. Tail nearly even. General 
color dull blue, paier on the abdomen, the middle of which is tinged witli ash ; the head and neck of a much deeper and more 
intense blue, darker on the crown. Chin and fore part of the throat whitish, streaked with blue. Length, 10 inches ; wing, 
5.90 ; tad, 4.50 ; tarsus, 1.50. 
Ilab. —Rocky mountains to Cascades of California and Oregon. Not on the Pacific coast.? 
The bill of this species is longer than the head. The wings are long and pointed ; the third, 
fourth, and fifth quills nearly equal, the second a little longer than the seventh, but half an inch 
less than the longest ; the exposed portion of the first about half that of the longest. 
