A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 2 of 3

by Spencer Fullerton Baird; T. M. Brewer; Robert Ridgway

Family CORVIDÆ.—The Crows.

Char. Primaries ten; the first short, generally about half as long as the second (or a little more); the outer four sinuated on the inner edge. The nasal fossæ and nostrils usually more or less concealed by narrow, stiffened bristles (or bristly feathers), with short appressed lateral branches extending to the very tip, all directed forwards (these bristles occasionally wanting). Tarsi scutellate anteriorly, the sides undivided (except sometimes below), and separated from the anterior plates by a narrow naked strip, sometimes filled up with small scales. Basal joint of middle toe united about equally to the lateral, generally for about half the length. Bill generally notched.

The preceding characters distinguish the family of Crows quite markedly from all others. The features of the bristles on the bill, and the separation of the lateral and anterior scales by a narrow interval, are worthy of particular attention. The commissure is without the obtusely angular bend near the base, seen in the Icteridæ.

There are two sub-families of Corvidæ represented in America, one embracing the true Crows, the other the Jays. They pass very insensibly into each other, and it is difficult to mark the dividing line. We may, however, distinguish these, as found in the United States, by the following characters:—

Corvinæ. Bill as long as the head. Tail short, nearly even; wings long and pointed, longer than tail, and nearly reaching its tip; projecting beyond the under tail-coverts, which reach the middle of tail. Tip of wing formed by the third, fourth, and fifth quills, which are longest.

Garrulinæ. Bill usually shorter than head. Tail lengthened, rounded, and generally longer than the wings, which are short, rounded, and extend scarcely beyond the lower tail-coverts; these not reaching the middle of the tail. Tip of wing formed by the fourth, fifth, and sixth quills, which are longest.

The row of small scales is usually present on both sides of the tarsi in the Corvinæ, but in the Jays is generally restricted to the inner face.

Subfamily CORVINÆ.

Char. Wings long and pointed; longer than the tail, and, when closed, reaching nearly to its tip, extending far beyond the under tail-coverts; the third, fourth, and fifth quills forming the tip of the wing.

The following diagnosis may serve to distinguish the three genera of North American Corvinæ:—

A. (Corveæ). Bill compressed, much higher than broad; its tip compressed. Size large (i. e. over 15 inches long), color black, or mainly black.

Color black throughout; bill much compressed, the culmen much arched, and the gonys convex; nasal bristles strong … Corvus.

B. (Nucifrageæ.) Bill cylindrical, scarcely or not at all higher than broad; its tip depressed. Size small (i. e. less than 15 inches long). Color uniform blue or with ashy on body, and black wings and tail.

Color ashy, with wings and tail mainly black. Culmen convex, gonys slightly concave. Nostrils covered by the short nasal tuft … Picicorvus.

Color uniform blue, brighter on the head; the throat streaked with whitish. Culmen straight; gonys slightly convex. Nostrils completely exposed; no nasal tufts … Gymnokitta.

Genus CORVUS, Linnæus.

Corvus, Linnæus, Syst. Nat. 1735. (Type, Corvus corax, L.)

Corvus carnivorus.
12442

Gen. Char. The nasal feathers lengthened, reaching to or beyond the middle of the bill. Nostrils large, circular, overhung behind by membrane, the edges rounded elsewhere. Rictus without bristles. Bill nearly as long as the tarsus, very stout; much higher than broad at the base; culmen much arched. Wings reaching nearly or quite to the tip of the tail, the outer four primaries sinuated internally. Tarsi longer than the middle toe, with a series of small scales on the middle of each side separating the anterior scutellate portion from the posterior continuous plates. Sides of the head occasionally with nearly naked patches. Tail graduated or rounded.

PLATE XXXVII

1. Quiscalus purpureus. ♂ Pa., 1363.

2. Quiscalus aglæus. ♂ Fla., 10342.

3. Corvus caurinus. ♂ Sitka, 46662.

4. Corvus mexicanus. ♂ Mazatlan, 52802.

5. Corvus americanus. ♂ D. C.

6. Corvus carnivorus. ♀ Neb., 4546.

7. Corvus ossifragus. D. C., 4515.

8. Corvus cryptoleucus. Texas, 46798.

9. Corvus floridanus. Fla., 10374.

Species and Varieties.

RAVENS. Feathers of the chin and throat stiffened, elongated, narrow and lanceolate, with their outlines very distinct.

1. C. corax var. carnivorus. Length about 25.00; wing, 17.00; tail, 10.00; graduation of tail, 1.60 to 2.40. Feathers of the neck and breast light gray beneath surface. Hab. Whole of North America; Guatemala and Mexico. Rare in Eastern United States.

2. C. cryptoleucus. Length about 21.00; wing, 14.00; tail, 8.50; graduation of tail, about 1.25. Feathers of neck and breast snowy-white beneath surface. Hab. Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain of Texas; Arizona; Colorado.

CROWS. Feathers of chin and throat soft, short, broad, obtuse, and with their webs blended.

A. Angle of mouth feathered—North American Crows.

a. Tarsus longer than the bill. First quill not longer than tenth.

3. C. americanus. The gloss of the plumage purplish-violet, and hardly perceptible on head and neck, middle toe and claw rather shorter than tarsus, measured from beginning of scutellæ.

Wing, 12.25; tail, 7.20; culmen, 1.85; tarsus, 2.00; middle toe, 1.45; wing-formula, 4, 3, 5, 6, 2; first quill equal to tenth. Hab. North America generally … var. americanus.[50]

Wing, 12.50; tail, 7.20; culmen, 2.10; tarsus, 2.30; middle toe, 1.60. Wing-formula? (moulting). Hab. South Florida … var. floridanus.

4. C. ossifragus. The gloss of plumage violaceous-blue, almost green on the head, neck, and breast, where very perceptible. Middle toe and claw longer than tarsus, as above. Wing, 10.50; tail, 6.50; culmen, 1.55; tarsus, 1.65; middle toe, 1.35. Wing-formula, 4, 3, 5; first quill slightly shorter than tenth. Hab. Atlantic Coast of the United States.

b. Tarsus shorter than the bill. First quill longer than tenth.

5. C. caurinus. Gloss of the plumage as in americanus, but deeper. Wing, 10.50; tail, 6.40; culmen, 1.95; tarsus, 1.70; middle toe, 1.25. Wing-formula, 4, 3, 5. Hab. Northwestern coast of North America.

6. C. mexicanus.[51] Plumage highly lustrous, blended. Soft burnished steel-blue, changing to violet on the crown, and with a greenish cast on lower parts. Wing, 9.00; tail, 6.50; culmen, 1.60; tarsus, 1.20; middle toe, 1.10. Wing-formula, 4, 3, 5. First quill very much longer than tenth. Hab. Western Mexico (Mazatlan, etc.).

B. Angle of mouth naked—West Indian Crows.

a. Tarsus much shorter than the bill.

7. C. nasicus.[52] Nostrils scarcely concealed by the short nasal bristles. Entirely violaceous-black, the feathers smoky-gray beneath the surface. Wing, 11.00; tail, 7.75; culmen, 2.45; depth of bill, .80; tarsus, 1.95; middle toe, 1.50; graduation of tail about 1.00; wing-formula, 4, 3, 5, 6, 2; first quill shortest. Hab. Cuba.

8. C. leucognaphalus.[53] Nostrils well concealed by the longer, but rather scant, nasal bristles. Entirely violaceous-black, the feathers of the neck all round, breast and sides, pure white below the surface. Wing, 12.50; tail, 9.00; culmen, 2.45; depth of bill, .95; tarsus, 2.15; middle toe, 1.50; graduation of tail about 1.25. Wing-formula, 4, 5, 3, 6, 2; first quill much the shortest. Hab. Porto Rico.

b. Tarsus about equal to bill.

9. C. jamaicensis.[54] Nostrils just covered by the short but dense tuft of nasal bristles. Entirely dark sooty-plumbeous, inclining to black on the head, wings, and tail, where is a very faint violaceous gloss. Wing, 9.50; tail, 6.50; culmen, 2.00; depth of bill, 1.70; tarsus, 2.05; middle toe, 1.35; graduation of tail, about .60. Wing-formula, 5, 4, 3, 6, 2; first shortest. Hab. Jamaica.

Corvus corax, var. carnivorus, Bartram.

AMERICAN RAVEN.

Corvus carnivorus, Bartram, Travels in E. Florida, 1793, 290.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 560, pl. xxi.—Cooper & Suckley, 210, pl. xxi.—Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866, 225.—Lord, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 1864, 121 (British Columbia).—Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 285 (Alaska).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 282.—Samuels, 355. Corvus corax, Wilson, Am. Orn. IX, 1825, 136, pl. lxxv. f. 3.—Bonap. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 36.—Ib. Syn. 1828, 56.—Doughty, Cab. N. H. I, 1830, 270, pl. xxiv.—Rich. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 290.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 202.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 476, pl. ci.—Ib. Syn. 1839, 150.—Ib. Birds Am. IV. 1842, 78, pl. ccxxiv.—Heerm. X, S, 54.—Finsch, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 40 (Alaska). Corvus cacalotl, “Wagler,” ? Bonap. Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1837, 115 (perhaps true cacalotl).—Ib. List, 1838 (probably not of Wagler).—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 387.—Maximilian, Reise innere Nord Amer. II, 1841, 289 (does not consider it different from European).—Newberry, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 82. Corvus lugubris, Agassiz, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. II, Dec. 1846, 188.—Ib. Caban. J. VI, 1858, 195.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 563, pl. xx.—Kennerly, P. R. R. X., b pl. xxii. Corvus, var. littoralis, “Holböll, Kroger Tidsk. IV, 1843, 390.”—Schlegel, note on Corvus.

Sp. Char. Fourth quill longest; third and fifth about equal; second between fifth and sixth; first nearly equal to the eighth. Length, about 24.00 or 25.00; extent, 50.00 to 51.00; wing, about 17.00; tail, 10.00. Tail moderately graduated; the outer feather about 1.60 to 2.40 inches less than the middle. Entirely glossy black, with burnished violet reflections.

Hab. Entire continent of North America. Rare east of the Mississippi. South to Guatemala.

Corvus carnivorus.

Though easily distinguishable from the European bird, the American Raven is so nearly related to it as to be beyond doubt referrible to it as a variety. The differences presented in a very large series of both forms are, however, very constant and tangible. In the American bird the bill is always longer and less deep, and the plumage is more highly burnished, while the wings, especially the secondaries, are perceptibly of a more reddish violet than the other portions. Though in an immense series of American specimens many differences of form and size are noted, yet there is nothing sufficiently characteristic of any particular region to indicate more than one variety. As a rule, however, specimens from the high north exceed in size those from elsewhere, and have the bill more robust, though not so short as in the European bird; while those from the Middle Province and Mexico to Guatemala (= “cacalotl,” Baird et Auct.) have the plumage more brilliant than others, and frequently the bill very narrow.

Habits. Assuming that we must consider as but one species the two differing forms of Raven found in North America, we find this bird more or less common throughout nearly the whole continent. It is much more abundant in some regions than in others, and, as a general rule, is much more common and also more generally distributed in the western portion, where also its habits are remarkably different from the manners of its eastern representative.

It seems to be more or less common throughout the Arctic regions. Mr. Kennicott met with Ravens at Lake Winnipeg. Mr. MacFarlane found them abundant at Lockhart River, at Fort Anderson, and on the Lower Anderson River. Mr. Ross obtained them at Fort Simpson, Mr. Reid at

Big Island, Mr. Clarke at Fort Rae, Mr. Lockhart at Fort Resolution, and Mr. Dall at Nulato, in Alaska.

Richardson speaks of it as abounding in the fur countries, where it frequents the barren grounds even in the intense winter cold, and where its movements are regulated by those of reindeer, musk-oxen, and other animals, which it follows, to assist in devouring whatever may be killed. Ravens are seen to collect from various quarters wherever any animal is slain, in order to feast on the offal, and considerable numbers are in constant attendance upon the several fishing-stations. He mentions a singular instance of the disposition of this bird to appropriate glittering objects of no value to it for food or anything else. A Raven was seen flying off with something in its claws, pursued by a number of its clamorous companions. Having been fired at, it dropped the object of contention, which proved to be the lock of a chest.

Mr. MacFarlane’s notes in regard to the nesting of these birds describe certain variations as to position, etc. One nest was on a ledge of a cliff of shale, and was composed of dry willow sticks, lined with pieces of rabbit skin and the hair of moose. Both parents were seen,—one on the nest, the other on a tree,—but both flew away on being approached. A second nest was in the top crotch of a tall pine on the river-bank. It was made of dry sticks, and thickly lined with reindeer hair. There were eight eggs in this nest. A third was in a tall pine, and was forty-five feet from the ground. It was constructed in a manner precisely similar to the preceding. A fourth was on the top of a tall pine, and only differed in having been lined with dry grass, moss, and a few reindeer hairs. The other nests appear to have been similarly situated and constructed. Nearly all were in high trees, built of dry sticks, and lined with dry grasses, mosses, and the hair of various quadrupeds. The maximum number of eggs was eight, their average six.

Mr. MacFarlane states that the Raven is found throughout the winter in the Arctic regions, and that, though he has met with it north of latitude 69°, he has never known it to breed north of that line. He informs us that it is seldom that more than a single pair is to be seen at a time, and occasionally they may be noted singly, flying alone, or feeding on garbage. Sometimes a dead fox or wolf will attract quite a number to the spot. On one occasion he observed as many as twenty Ravens amicably associated together around the carcasses of two wolves that had been poisoned with strychnine. In many cases he has known the partaking of a poisoned animal prove fatal to them, as also the eating of bait laid for foxes and wolves.

According to this same correspondent, one of these birds became almost domesticated at Fort Anderson, during February and March, 1865. At first it fed about the fort with a companion; soon after, coming alone, it grew bolder and bolder, alighted within the square, allowed itself to be closely approached, where the young dogs soon became familiar with it, and would even frolic and gambol with it, the Raven joining heartily in the sport in its own way.

It was never known to attempt to injure even the smallest of the young dogs, nor did any of the dogs ever offer to annoy it. It at length came to be considered by all as an inmate of the establishment. While it seemed to have full confidence in the people of the fort, it kept at a careful distance from all Indian or Esquimaux visitors.

Mr. B. R. Ross speaks of Ravens as common as far north as the Arctic Ocean. They feed on carrion, and act as scavengers to the establishments. Their sight is remarkably keen, and the sagacity with which they follow the trapper is wonderful. Early as the hunter may start, these harpies will have been before him, and torn out the eyes and entrails of each hare. They will break into marten-traps for the sake of the bait or the captured animal, thrusting aside or pulling out with their beaks the sticks that compose the enclosure. Sometimes they are caught in steel traps that are set for foxes, or eat the strychnine baits laid for the same animals, and slowly succumb to this powerful poison. Their flesh is so rank that even a fox, unless sorely pressed by hunger, will not eat it. They pair in April, and usually construct their nests in the loftiest trees. They have various call-notes, one of which is like that of the Canada Goose, and another is said by Mr. Ross to be very liquid and musical.

Mr. Dall states that these birds were abundant all the year at Nulato, and indeed everywhere throughout Alaska, but much more common near the Indian villages and trading-posts than elsewhere. They build on the sandstone cliffs at Nulato, in cavities that have been occupied for years. They lay about the 20th of April, and the young are hatched before open water. He also speaks of them as very intelligent, and states that on several expeditions made to obtain their eggs, the instant he stopped at the foot of the bluff the whole colony would arrange themselves on the edge of the rock in anxious consultation, uttering repeated cries of warning. On one occasion, where the nest was inaccessible and the party went back unsuccessful, their departure was announced by significant and joyous croaks and derisive screeches. Ravens were also found by Mr. Bannister common all the year on the small islands lying off the northeast point of St. Michaels.

In the Eastern States the Raven is a comparatively rare bird, except in a few special localities. These are usually mountain-ranges, high precipitous banks of rivers and lakes and of the ocean, and among wild and lonely islands. It occurs on the Labrador coast, at Grand Menan in the Bay of Fundy, the Adirondacks, Lake George, the Hudson River, etc. Mr. Lawrence speaks of it as quite common on the coast of New Jersey. It is found among the mountains of Buncombe and other counties in North Carolina, and Mr. Audubon mentions its occurrence at Table Mountain, in the district of Pendleton, South Carolina. Dr. Coues found Ravens not rare at Labrador, where the almost inaccessible cliffs afford them safe and convenient retreats. They were so excessively wary that it was found impossible

to shoot them. They descended in pairs to the sea-shore to feed on dead fish, crabs, and other animal substances thrown up by the sea.

Mr. Ridgway informs me of the presence of this bird in the heavy forests of the bottom-lands in Southern Illinois. It is there quite rare, however, as he has met with but a few pairs. These were resident, and nested in the tall timber of the Big Creek bottoms, in Richland Co.

Audubon’s party found it equally impossible to obtain a specimen at Labrador. One afternoon Mr. Audubon hid himself under a nest several hours, to no purpose. The old Ravens would not show themselves while he was within gunshot, though the young clamored for food. As soon as he had left the spot the female alighted on the nest, fed her young, and was off again before she could be approached.

At Grand Menan, where they are not rare, and where they breed among the high cliffs, I found them so wild that it was almost impossible even to obtain sight of them. Passing high in the air above our heads, their loud, hoarse croak attested their alarm at the sight of their enemy, man. They are looked upon with aversion by the islanders, and are persecuted by them without mercy. They rob the nests of the Herring Gulls, interfering with the islanders in this privilege, and are, wrongfully I believe, charged with destroying young lambs.

Years afterwards, when I again encountered individuals of this species at Cheyenne, on the Plains, I could not but notice the immense difference in their character. There perfect confidence in man took the place of dread. Unmolested by the people, who regard them as desirable scavengers, valueless for food and useful in removing nuisances, they were as tame and familiar as the European Sparrow in the parks of New York or Boston. On one occasion I found one engaged in eating the remains of a dead cow just outside the city. It allowed me to approach to within five or six feet, when with a very stately and dignified stride it moved out of my way, and kept me at about this distance. I could not compel it to fly to any distance, even when I hastened my steps.

In New England these birds are very rare, and their occurrence is only accidental. One has been shot on the Connecticut, and another on the Merrimack, in Massachusetts. They are not unfrequently met with in Northern New York.

On the Pacific Coast the Raven is common from Sitka to San Diego. Throughout Washington Territory it is said to be plentiful, more scattered in the summer, and in the winter congregating about settlements and the sea-shore. At Vancouver, during the winter, it was observed amicably associating with the Crows, and on the coast with the Fish Crows, but during the spring, when the latter had nests, they boldly attacked the Ravens, and drove them away.

In California and in all the adjacent regions, Dr. Cooper states, the Raven is found everywhere in pairs, more numerous than in the Atlantic States,

and abundant even in the most barren desert districts. It follows trains and herds of cattle, and keeps on the lookout for anything befalling them. It is omnivorous, eating snakes, lizards, eggs, carrion, and even grain, though the last very rarely. It is accused of destroying young chickens and lambs.

In Arizona Dr. Coues speaks of it as resident, and very abundant about the cattle enclosures, where it congregates in immense numbers during the autumn and winter. During the severe winter of 1864-65 great numbers perished of cold and hunger at Fort Whipple. Dr. Coues has favored us with the following interesting sketch of the habits of this bird as observed by him in that Territory.

“The geographical distribution of the Raven seems to be in great measure complementary to that of the Crow. On the prairies, in the desert, among the mountains, of the Western States and Territories, where the Ravens and their congenial companions, the coyotes, abound, the Crows are rare or wanting altogether. In travelling westward, I saw no Crows after leaving the settlements this side of the Plains, while the Ravens were conspicuous, until in some parts of Southern California Crows reappeared, but no Ravens amongst them. I saw a fair number of Ravens along the Arkansas River, and they were frequent in the valley of the Rio Grande; after crossing the river, while traversing the wild region thence to the Colorado, they were our inseparable companions; hundreds, if not thousands, of them lived about Fort Whipple all the year, seemingly attracted from miles around by probabilities of finding abundant food. Throughout the Western wilds they hang on the footsteps of man, needy adventurers, claiming their share of his spoils, disputing with the wolves and vultures for the refuse of his camp, and polishing the skeletons of the buffalo, with which he sometimes strews the plain. The more desolate the land, the closer the Raven follows in the trail of the emigrant, till its dismal croaking sounds ominous of hardship, and its plumage seems to foreshadow days as dark.

“One accustomed to the shrewdness and prudence of Crows in populous districts is at first surprised at an apparent familiarity the Raven often shows in the West. There no one would think of wasting ammunition on the worthless bird, and it comes to look upon man more as its provider than as an enemy. Nevertheless, like the rest of its tribe, the Raven is a sagacious bird, not likely to be twice deceived, and very ready to take a hint; he always has his wits about him, and keeps a bright lookout when anything stranger than a coyote is near. This wariness is something altogether different from the childlike timidity of little birds like Sparrows, that scurry away in terror from any unusual sight or sound, and unquestionably implies keen powers of observation coupled with no small degree of reasoning faculty. Almost every day during the winter of 1864-65 I must have passed within a few paces of Ravens stalking about the fort; and yet, when I wanted a specimen, it was not an easy matter to secure one. The birds assuredly knew the difference between a person going quietly about his business

and one “on mischief bent,” and their intelligent watchfulness rendered it quite impossible to approach them openly with gun in hand.

“Ravens are resident in the region about Fort Whipple, and their apparently diminished number in summer is simply due to the fact that they are then spread over a greater surface, are less restless, and better provided for in the matter of food. In winter, and especially when snow covered the ground, their numbers at the fort were simply incalculable. They dotted the ground everywhere during the day, and roosted in crowds on the neighboring pines by night. One patriarchal tree, that stood somewhat isolated, was a favorite resting-place for the Ravens and Buzzards, and gradually assumed a singular appearance, as if it had been whitewashed. This great pine overlooked a little open space where our beeves were slaughtered, and the banqueting there was never ended. All night long the wolves howled and barked as they tugged at the offal, till daylight sent them reluctant to their rocky fastnesses, when the great dark birds, with a premonitory stretching of the wings, flapped down to renew the feast. The Ravens and Buzzards seemed to get along very well together, quarrelling no more with each other than each species did with its own kind; but in the occasional disputes the smaller birds seemed to have rather the advantage of the heavier and clumsier gluttons. This comparative good-fellowship was in striking contrast to the behavior of Crows towards Turkey Buzzards.

“The Raven is not, on the whole, so noisy a bird as the Crow, though he croaks vigorously on occasion, and his caw may claim to be impressive, if not agreeable. But the queer sounds that the bird can utter, if he be so minded, are indescribable; even his ordinary cawing is susceptible of considerable modulation. A favorite amusement of his, when, his hunger appeased for the time, he feels particularly comfortable, is to settle snugly on the top of a pine-tree, and talk to himself. The performance generally begins with a loud caw, self-asserting, followed by a complacent chuckle; and then comes a series of comical syllables, so low as to be scarcely audible from the ground below, as if he were musing aloud, and tickled with his own fancies. Then he will raise his voice again, and file away at some old saw for a while, finishing with the inimitable ‘cork-drawing’ for which his tribe is famous.

“A Raven that I had slightly wounded in the wing and captured soon became quite tame, and developed a variety of amusing traits. Proving rather obtrusive and inconvenient in my narrow quarters, I undertook to tie him in a corner with a string round his leg. This he objected to, and it was astonishing to see the perseverance he showed in untying any number of knots I might make. It was a task that sometimes took him hours, but he never rested until it was done. I had no chain light enough for the purpose, but I finally got the better of him by twisting a wire with the cord. His intelligence did not reach in that direction more than six inches from his leg.”

Mr. Dresser observed the Raven common at San Antonio, frequenting the

slaughter-houses. In November, in the Baudera Hills, several came to his camp to feast on the offal of deer. Dr. Woodhouse also found them very abundant in Texas, the Indian Territory, and New Mexico, and especially so on the buffalo plains. In the Mexican Boundary Survey, Dr. Kennerly observed these birds everywhere in Northern Mexico, flocks of them following the train from point to point. They were not at all shy, but often came into camp in search of food.

Captain Blakiston, having enjoyed unusual opportunities for observing the habits of the American Raven during his residence in high northern regions, characterizes the species as anything but solitary. During the day they are usually met with in pairs, except when drawn together in large numbers around the carcass of a dead animal. At night, during the winter, they repair to some chosen resting-place, usually a clump of trees on the edge of a prairie, and there roost in one immense body. One of these roosting-places was about a mile from Fort Carlton, and Captain Blakiston’s attention was first drawn to it by noticing that about sunset all the Ravens, from all quarters, were flying towards this point. Returning to the fort in the evening by that quarter, he found a clump of aspen-trees, none of them more than twenty-five feet high, filled with Ravens, who, at his approach, took wing and flew round and round. He also noted the wonderful regularity with which they repaired to their roosting-place in the evening and left it again in the morning, by pairs, on their day’s hunt. They always left in the morning, within a minute or two of the same time, earlier and earlier as the days grew longer, on cold or cloudy mornings a little later, usually just half an hour before sunrise. In April they all paired off, and their roosting-place became deserted. During an excursion about one hundred and fifty miles southwest of Fort Carlton, Captain Blakiston found several nests of Ravens with eggs, one of which was in a small tree near a lake, and was not more than fifteen feet above it. It contained six eggs, was about a foot in diameter, composed of sticks, and was lined with buffalo-hair and pieces of scarlet cloth, evidently picked up about an Indian camping-ground.

Dr. Heermann states that while in California he always found the nests of the Raven placed high on bold precipitous cliffs, secure against danger; in the vast desolate plains of New Mexico he saw these birds building on low trees, and even on cactus-plants, less than three feet from the ground, showing how much circumstances and localities affect the habits of birds regarding incubation.

A Raven, probably this species, is abundant on the plateau of Mexico. The Cerro Colorado, near Tehuacan, is the rendezvous of a large number of these birds, where, according to Sumichrast, at the time of the flowering of the maguey, they gather in great abundance, to feed on the blossoms of this plant, which are their favorite food.

Mr. Boardman writes me that he has several times collected Ravens’ eggs at Grand Menan, but always found the nest a hard one to take, as they

usually build it under some high cliff. They make a very large and bulky nest, and, where not disturbed, use it several years in succession. They also breed very early. He once took a nest with eight eggs on the 10th of April, when the snow all around was quite deep. This was sent to the Smithsonian Institution. Its contents nearly filled a bushel basket. He does not regard the Ravens as migratory. Though they are apparently more numerous in winter than in summer, this is probably because they forsake the woods and come about the open fields and the banks of rivers for dead fish, and thus are more noticed. They are very shy, sagacious, and vigilant, so much so that it is almost impossible for one to get a shot at them. Crows avoid them, and the two are never seen together. The farmers of Grand Menan accuse them of pecking the eyes out of young lambs, and always try to destroy them, and they grow less and less numerous every year. The Ravens, he adds, appear to be on good terms with the Duck Hawks, as he has known a nest of the former within a few rods of one of the latter.

An egg of this species, from Anderson River, measures 1.96 inches in length by 1.32 in breadth. Two from Grand Menan measure, one 2.05 inches by 1.30, the other 1.95 by 1.25. The ground-color of two of these is a soiled sea-green, that of the third is a light bluish-green. This is more sparingly marked with dots, blotches, and cloudings of faint purple and purplish-brown, chiefly at the larger end. The others are marked over the entire egg with blotches of varying size and depth of coloring, of a deep purple-brown; some of the markings are not readily distinguishable from black.

Corvus cryptoleucus, Couch.

WHITE-NECKED CROW.

Corvus cryptoleucus, Couch, Pr. A. N. Sc. VII, April, 1854, 66 (Tamaulipas, Mexico).—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 565 pl. xxii.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 284.

Sp. Char. The fourth quill is longest; the third and fifth equal; the second longer than the sixth; the first about equal to the seventh. Glossy black, with violet reflections; feathers of neck all round, back, and breast, snow-white at the base. Length, about 21.00; wing, 14.00; tail, 8.50. Feathers of throat lanceolate; bristly feathers along the base of the bill covering it for nearly two thirds its length.

Hab. Valley of Rio Grande and Gila. Abundant on the Llano Estacado, and at Eagle Pass, Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 494). Colorado (Aiken).

In the white bases to the feathers of the neck, etc., there is a resemblance in this species to the C. leucognaphalus of Porto Rico; but the latter has entirely different proportions, blended instead of lanceolate feathers on the throat, exceedingly short instead of unusually long nasal plumes, and many other differences, and is in every feature totally distinct.

Habits. Of the distinctive habits or the extent of the distribution of the

White-necked Raven we have very little knowledge. It was first described by Lieutenant Couch, in 1854, from specimens obtained by him at Charco Escondido, Mexico, in May, 1853. Other specimens were afterwards procured by Dr. Kennerly, at Janos, Mexico, in 1855, and by Mr. Dresser at Eagle Pass, Texas, in March, 1864. The latter gives no notes as to its habits.

Dr. Kennerly’s note in regard to it is that it was not very common, and when seen was generally associated with the larger species of Raven. Lieutenant Couch merely mentions it as found in small numbers in Eastern Tamaulipas, generally near ranches.

Mr. J. H. Clark writes that this species does not seem to possess the cunning or wariness of its congeners. It was met with, in the greatest abundance, about watering-places. It was not found habitually in great flocks, though at the head of the Limpia many were congregated and flying about the face of an immense rocky mountain wall, where they were probably nesting. Their note he describes as coarse, and less shrill than that of the common Crow. He met with the supposed nest in an arborescent cactus.

Dr. Coues does not appear to have met with this species in Arizona, but Lieutenant Bendire writes to Professor Baird from Tucson, April 12, 1872, that it is the most common Crow or Raven there. This he discovered accidentally, finding that three fourths of the Ravens he shot proved to be of this species; the others were the Colorado race of the Raven. Specimens of this Crow were obtained at Fort Buchanan by Dr. Irwin, at Pecos River by Dr. Anderson, and in the Indian Territory by Mr. McCarthy.

An egg of this species, from Trout Creek, Texas, obtained June 20 by Charles S. McCarthy, measures 1.75 inches in length by 1.25 in breadth. The ground-color is a light grayish-green, and is pretty uniformly marked with fine dottings of mingled purple and brown.

Corvus americanus, Aud.

COMMON CROW.

Corvus corone, Wilson, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 79 pl. xxv, f. 3.—Bon. Obs. Wils. 1824, No. 37.—Ib. Syn. 1828, 56.—Rich. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 291.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 209 (not Corvus corone ofLinn.). Corvus americanus, Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 317; V, 477, pl. clvi.—Ib. Syn. 1839, 150.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 87, pl. ccxxv.—Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Consp. 1850, 385.—Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 221.—Maxim. Reise, I, 1839, 140.—Newberry, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 82.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 566, pl. xxiii.—Max. Caban. J. VI, 1858, 198.—Schlegel, Notice sur les Corbeaux, 10, pl. I, f. 16.—Coues, P. A. N. S. 1861, 226.—Samuels, 357.—Allen, B. E. Fla. 297 (in part).

Sp. Char. Fourth quill longest; second shorter than sixth; first shorter than ninth. Glossy black with violet reflections, even on the belly. Length, 19.00 to 20.00; wing, 13.00 to 13.50; tail about 8.00. Tarsus longer than the middle toe and claw.

Hab. United States, from Atlantic to Pacific; rare in the Middle Province and on Missouri Plains, and on northwest coast. N. E. Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 494). North to Great Slave Lake, Fort Rae, and Nelson River, H. B. T.

The C. americanus has no analogue in Europe, though the C. corone somewhat resembles it. The most important feature of distinction appears to lie in the structure of the feathers of the head and neck, which in C. corone are narrow, with the tips distinct, while in the American bird these tips are blended together and do not maintain their individuality. The feathers on the fore-neck in corone are also lanceolate and distinct, showing the outline of each one as in the Raven, while in the American Crow they are three times as broad, rounded, and entirely blended. Mr. Audubon further remarks that the neck of the European bird is glossed with green and blue, while that of the American has a decided purplish-brown tinge.

Prince Maximilian states, in addition, that the note differs in the two species.

Habits. The Common Crow of North America is found in great abundance in all the Eastern States, from Texas to Florida, and from the Missouri to Nova Scotia. A few are found beyond the Great Plains, and they also extend their migrations, in summer, into high Arctic regions. Richardson found them as far north as the 55th parallel, but was in error when he stated that beyond this they do not go. He adds that none approach within five or six hundred miles of Hudson’s Bay. They were observed at Cross Lake and at Lake Winnepeg by Mr. Kennicott, at Big Island by Mr. Reid, at Fort Rae by Mr. Clarke, and at Fort Anderson and on the Lower Anderson River by Mr. MacFarlane, who also found them breeding even at this high latitude. They were not seen in Russian America, and Dr. Cooper thinks that the species does not occur in California, or, if at all, only rarely, but that it is there replaced by C. caurinus.

Mr. Ridgway found the Crow of very rare occurrence in the interior. A very few were seen in the Truckee meadows, in November, and others at the Humboldt marshes, in October. These western birds were exceedingly unsuspicious and familiar, so much so that those seen in the Humboldt marshes were walking about with all the familiarity of domestic pigeons, only hopping aside as they were approached. None were seen either in spring or summer.

In Western Iowa Mr. Allen states that he saw but very few of this species, and even in Northern Illinois it was not very common. At the West this bird is reported to be held in better estimation than at the East, by the farmers. It is not known to pull corn, and seems to be entirely unsuspicious. It is regarded generally as a benefactor, and not only deserves, but receives, good treatment. In Indiana he found it more common.

Dr. Coues met with a single individual on the Labrador coast. In Nova Scotia it is much more abundant, and there, as on the Western prairies, being unmolested by the inhabitants, it is exceedingly unsuspicious, and will permit

a very near approach before it will fly, and even then will not move to a distance. In all of the United States east of the Mississippi it is very abundant. In Texas, between San Antonio and the Mexican frontier, it is not common; but Mr. Dresser found it very common in the northeast part of the State during the whole year.

Probably no one of our birds, so wholly worthless for food, has been more hunted and destroyed than this species. In certain parts of the country it is held in great aversion by the farmers, and in some States bounty-laws have been enacted by legislatures to promote its destruction. Had not these birds been possessed of an extraordinary intelligence, they must long since have been exterminated or driven from a large part of the country. In some sections their numbers have been of late much diminished by the use of strychnine. During the month of May the Crow is very destructive in the cornfield, pulling up the grains as soon as they begin to vegetate, and compelling the farmer to replant perhaps several times. Wilson remarks that in the State of Delaware these birds collect in immense flocks and commit great devastation upon crops of standing corn. They also occasionally commit depredations in the barn-yard, robbing hens’-nests of their eggs, and even destroying young chickens. They also destroy the eggs and young of other birds. The mischief they thus do is doubtless very great, and the ground for the prevalent prejudice against them is quite apparent. Yet it is equally demonstrable that this bird is surpassed, and probably is equalled, by no other in the vast amount of the benefits conferred upon agriculturalists. The evil it perpetrates is very limited, and is confined to but a short period, but during all the time it is resident the Crow is constantly engaged in the destruction of injurious insects and rodent quadrupeds. In the early spring it feeds almost wholly upon the most destructive grubs, and in extensive districts of Massachusetts, where these birds have been largely destroyed, the ravages of the May-bugs and the grasshoppers in pasture-lands have been a natural consequence of so short-sighted a policy.

The persecutions to which the Crow is subjected have developed in them a wariness and a distrust that is foreign to their nature. They can only live by keeping on a constant lookout for dangers, and by learning to distinguish the weapons that threaten their destruction. As soon as anything is seen that causes alarm, the signal is at once given, and the warning passed from one to another.

In New Jersey and in Pennsylvania, during the winter months, the Crows assemble in immense flocks, and their movements appear to be regulated by the guidance of a few chosen leaders. I received from the lips of the late John Cassin, an ornithologist hardly less remarkable for his outdoor observations than for his researches in the closet, only a few days before his death, a very surprising account of the movements of a large army of Crows, witnessed by himself, in the spring of 1868.

On a Sunday morning in April, when Philadelphia was enveloped in a

fog so dense and impenetrable that it was hardly possible to distinguish objects across its streets, Mr. Cassin’s attention was called to an immense accumulation of these birds in Independence Square. The whole park he found, to his utter astonishment, occupied by an immense army of Crows. They filled all the trees, bending down the overloaded branches, and swarmed over and covered the ground. The entire space seemed alive with Crows. They had evidently become bewildered in the fog, and had strangely taken refuge in this small park in the very heart of Philadelphia. As if aware of their close proximity to danger, the whole assembly was quiet, orderly, and silent. A few birds, evidently acting as leaders, moved noiselessly back and forth through their ranks, as if giving tacit signals. These movements were followed by the departure of a few scouts, as if sent to make explorations, but they soon returned unsuccessful. Again were repeated the uneasy movements of their leaders, passing slowly and cautiously through their close ranks. After an apparently much longer consultation, another small party ascended to explore, wheeling round and round in wider and wider zones. At length, satisfied with their observations, they quietly returned, and made their report in a manner evidently understood, though not audibly expressed; for immediately the leaders passed again among the crowd, and, as if signals were given for a general movement, the whole of this immense congregation, numbering, Mr. Cassin estimated, hundreds of thousands, rose slowly and silently, preceded by their scouts, and, moving off in a westerly direction, were soon lost to view.

When taken young, the Crow can be easily domesticated, and becomes a very entertaining, but a very mischievous pet. It is very secretive, hiding objects of no value to itself, and seems to delight in mischief. It displays often a wonderful intelligence, appears to understand and to obey certain directions, and manifests also remarkable quickness of vision. A tame Crow belonging to a family resident near Boston, and permitted to go at large, manifested all the attachment of a dog. It especially enjoyed the society of the children, and played with them in their games of hide and seek, surpassing them by its readiness in finding the secreted object. It was especially attached to the mistress of the house, flying to her whenever she approached, hovering over her head, and alighting on her shoulder.

In a few instances the Crow has been taught to imitate articulate sounds. In one of these, in Grafton, Mass., the Crow not only vociferated a single monosyllable repeatedly, but at other times enunciated a short sentence of five syllables.

A few are resident in Massachusetts during the year, but the greater portion move south in November and return in March. Those who remain during the winter are chiefly resident near the sea-shore. The Crow breeds from April to June, varying with the latitude of its residence. In Massachusetts it has full-grown young by June 1. It builds, usually in March, a large rudely constructed nest of sticks, moss, and bark, lined with finer

mosses, and sometimes with hair. The parent birds are very watchful and vigilant if their nest is in danger, and often expose their lives in their anxiety for their young. The male bird is attentive to his mate during incubation, and assists in feeding the young. The young are fed chiefly on insects, frogs, mice, and similar food.

The eggs of the Crow vary from 1.60 to 1.55 inches in length, and from 1.20 to 1.10 in breadth. In their markings they exhibit surprising variations. They usually have a ground of a light sea-green, over which are scattered, more or less thickly, blotches, some of them quite large, of a dark-brown, almost black, with purplish reflections. These are chiefly about the larger end. Another quite common variety is of a deeper ground of green, very uniformly and thickly sprinkled with fine dottings of a sepia-brown. Others have a ground nearly white, slightly tinged with green, more sparingly spotted with small blotches of light purplish-brown. A nest found near Springfield contained eggs having the ground-color on one side a pinkish-gray, the rest being greenish-white, all spotted with brown. Another set of eggs from Hudson, Mass., were of a light bluish-green, entirely unspotted, resembling large Robin’s eggs; and Dr. Wood mentions another four, the ground of which was flesh-color, and the spots red.

Corvus americanus, var. floridanus, Baird.

FLORIDA CROW.

Corvus americanus, var. floridanus, Baird, Birds N. Am. 568, pl. lxvii, f. 1. C. americanus, Allen, B. E. Fla. 297.

Sp. Char. About the size of C. americanus, but bill and feet larger. Tail less rounded. Third, fourth, and fifth quills nearly equal; third rather longer than fifth. Color less violet above. Length, 19.50; wing, 12.00; tail, 7.70; tarsus, 2.60.

Hab. Southern peninsula of Florida.

This resident Crow of Florida differs in some marked features from that of the more northern localities in several characters. Although perhaps rather smaller, the bill and feet, especially the latter, are very considerably larger. The nasal feathers extend over the basal two fifths of the bill, instead of the half. The proportions of the bill are about the same; in the Florida bird it is rather the longer. The greatest difference is in the feet. The tarsal joint of the tibia is bare, the feathers scarcely coming below it, even anteriorly, instead of projecting some distance. The tarsus is almost a quarter of an inch longer, covered anteriorly by nine scutellæ, instead of eight. The outer lateral toe is shorter, not reaching the base of the middle claw. The middle toe and claw are considerably shorter than the tarsus; the middle claw is shorter than in the northern bird.

The wing-formula differs somewhat; the third, fourth, and fifth quills are nearly equal, the third even longer than the fifth, instead of shorter. The

tail is short and very nearly even, the difference in length of feathers being less than half an inch, instead of an inch. This, however, may in part be owing to the absence of the middle pair.

The colors differ somewhat from those of the common Crow. There is less violet, and the feathers of the back have almost a brassy gloss on their margins, as in Crotophaga.

The specimen upon which these remarks are based, though apparently perfectly mature, is changing some of its feathers, such as the inner primaries, the middle tail-feathers, and the greater coverts. The long primaries and ten tail-feathers, however, are of full length. It is possible that the bird is really as large as the northern Crow, although this is hardly probable. It was killed on the mainland of the extreme southern portion of Florida, not far from Fort Dallas.

No comparison of this bird is required with the Fish Crow, which has the middle toe and claw longer than the tarsus, not shorter, and the proportions much less.

Habits. The common resident Crow of Florida exhibits so many peculiarities differing from the northern species, that Professor Baird, in his Birds of America, deemed it worthy of mention at least as a race, if not a distinct species. We have no account of its habits, and do not know if, in any respects, they differ from those of the common Crow. Dr. J. C. Cooper, in his brief manuscript notes on the birds of Florida, made in the spring of 1859, speaks of the Florida Crow as very common, as being quite maritime in its habits, and as having full-fledged young on the 20th of April. Three eggs of this race, obtained in Florida in the spring of 1871, by Mr. Maynard, differ not more from those of the Crow than do those of the latter occasionally from one another. They measure 1.73 by 1.20 inches; 1.70 by 1.20; and 1.54 by 1.25. Their ground-color is a bright bluish-green, and they are all more or less marked, over the entire egg, with blotches of a mingled bronze and brown with violet shadings. The latter tints are more marked in one egg than in the others, and in this the spots are fewer and more at one end, the larger end being nearly free from markings. Their average capacity, as compared with the average of the C. americanus, is as 5.1 to 4.2.

Corvus caurinus, Baird.

NORTHWESTERN FISH CROW.

Corvus caurinus, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 569, pl. xxiv.—Cooper & Suckley, 211, pl. xxiv.—Dall & Bannister, Trans. Chicago Acad. I, 1869, 286 (Alaska).—Finsch, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 41 (Alaska).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 285.

Sp. Char. Fourth quill longest; fifth and third about equal; second longer than sixth; first shorter than ninth. Color black, glossed with purple. Tail nearly even. Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw. Length about 16.50; wing about 11.00; tail about 7.00.

Hab. Northwestern coast, from Columbia River to Sitka.

This species is readily distinguished from the eastern Fish Crow by the larger size; the absence of green gloss on the belly; the tarsi longer than the middle toe and claw, instead of shorter; and the second quill being generally shorter than the sixth instead of longer, and considerably shorter than the culmen, instead of longer.

It is rather to be compared with C. americanus, with which it agrees in colors, but from which it differs, essentially, in having the wing and tail very much shorter, while the bill is considerably longer, and in having the tarsus shorter than the culmen, instead of longer, as in all the other North American species. In this last respect it agrees with C. mexicanus (see synopsis, p. 829) of Western Mexico; in this, however, the color and proportions are entirely different.

Habits. This species appears to be confined to the seaboard of the Pacific, from Alaska to California inclusive. Smaller than the common Crow, in its more essential features it closely resembles that bird, while in all its habits it appears the exact counterpart of the Fish Crow, from which it is specifically and essentially distinct.

It is found as far north as Sitka, several specimens having been procured at that point by Mr. Bischoff.

In the opinion of Dr. Suckley, the marked differences in the habits of this species from those of the common Crow, even more than the great difference in size, sufficiently mark them as entirely distinct. The western Fish Crow is never wary or suspicious, like the common species, but in its impudent familiarity with man resembles the English Jackdaw, and hardly learns to be shy even after having been annoyed with the gun. In Oregon and Washington Territory, he states, this Crow is very abundant, and is one of the marked ornithological features of the country. The great abundance of fish, especially of salmon, in both of these divisions, amply supplies this species with food. At Puget Sound it is abundant throughout the year. During the winter it subsists principally upon the refuse food and offal thrown out by the natives from their lodges. He describes it as cunning, but very tame and impudent, allowing a very near approach, and retiring but a short distance when pursued. Like the Raven and the Herring Gull, these birds are in the habit of carrying clams high into the air and then dropping them, in order to break the shell. Dr. Suckley observed one fruitlessly trying to break the shell of a clam by letting it drop on soft ground. In this effort he persisted perseveringly as long as he was watched.

Dr. Suckley found a nest of this species at Fort Dalles. It was situated in a dense willow-thicket, near a lagoon on the Columbia, and contained three eggs. He describes them as about an inch and a half long, and very wide in their short diameter, of a dirty green ground with brown spots.

Dr. Cooper speaks of it as much more gregarious and familiar than the common Crow, but otherwise resembling that bird in habits, being very sagacious, feeding upon almost everything animal and vegetable, differing rather

in the tone than in the character of its cries. Its chief dependence for food being on the sea, it is generally found along the beach, devouring dead fish and other objects thrown up by the waves. At high tide the birds leave the shore and resort to dwellings near the sea, where they devour the offal and any refuse, vegetable or animal. As soon as the tide changes they are sure to notice it and to return to their favorite feeding-ground. They are very troublesome to the Indians, stealing their fish exposed for drying, and other articles of food. From some superstitious awe of them the Indians never molest these birds, but set their children to watch and drive them away. They build in trees near the shore, and the young are fledged in May.

In the southern half of California, Dr. Cooper states, these birds are rarely seen near the sea, preferring inland districts, and only occasionally coming to the shores of the bays to feed. During most of the year they associate in large flocks, feeding in company, and are gregarious even in the breeding-season, building in close proximity to one another. Frequently several nests may be found on the same tree. In this respect they are very unlike the eastern species, which never permit another pair near their nest.

These birds were found by Dr. Cooper breeding as far south as San Diego, where they selected for their breeding-places the groves of evergreen oaks growing in ravines. Their nests were from twelve to forty feet from the ground. In the north they generally build in spruces. He describes their nests as strongly built of sticks, coarse on the outside, but finer on the inside, where they are mingled with roots, grasses, moss, horse-hair, etc., to form a soft lining. The eggs, four in number, have a ground-color of a dark shade of green, thickly marked with dark brown and olive. He gives their average measurement as 1.60 by 1.10 inches. At San Diego they are laid about April 15.

Where unmolested, these birds have not yet become so shy as in the older districts, but they soon learn to apprehend the danger of a gun, and to evince the cunning characteristics of their tribe. They have not, as yet, manifested any disposition to disturb the growing crops, and the small depredations they commit are far more than counterbalanced by their destruction of immense numbers of grubs, grasshoppers, and other injurious insects. They obtain a large supply of food around the cattle-ranches.

In northern California they feed largely on fish, and on the Columbia on clams and oysters.

For reasons not well understood, they avoid particular districts during the breeding-season. Dr. Cooper has never noticed one, during this season, on the coast south of Santa Clara, has never seen one in the Colorado Valley, nor in the Sierra Nevada.

At Visalia, where an extensive forest of oaks forms an oasis in the great Tulare plain, he met with large flocks of these birds, with the same gregarious habits as were observed on the coast.

During the month of July, 1866, a large number of these Crows came every evening to roost in an alder-grove near the town of Santa Cruz. They

gathered in long, continuous flocks from the neighboring fields, flying rather high. All at once they would descend, with zigzag turns, to the low trees, sportively chasing and pecking at one another, and chattering in the air.

Mr. John K. Lord, who enjoyed an unusually good opportunity of comparing the habits of our common Crow with those of this species, has not the slightest doubt as to their distinctness, though so very like in all essential respects, as far as color, form of bill, and other details are concerned. The smaller size of this bird, the difference in voice, and their habit of building with mud a domed nest, sufficiently demonstrate their difference. This Crow he found principally near the sea-coast; retiring to the trees at high tide, following out its ebb and retreating before its flood, they feed on any marine food they can find. The caw of this species reminded him of the Jackdaws of Europe. During the breeding-season they abandoned the coast, from early May resorting by pairs to the interior. Selecting patches of open prairie, they build their nests in the bushes of the crab-apple or wild thorn, and something in the manner of the Magpie, arching over the top with sticks, with two openings for entrance and exit on either side. The inside is plastered with mud, and lined with a few loose grass-stalks. The eggs he found generally small, and of a lighter color than those of the common Crow. After nesting, they return with their young to the sea-coast, and remain in large flocks. During the breeding-season they feed on small reptiles, freshwater mollusks, insects, grubs, etc. Mr. Lord noticed them capturing butterflies flying near their nests. Their eggs range in number from five to seven.

An egg of this species from Sitka measures 1.62 inches in length by 1.12 in breadth. It is of an oblong-oval shape, pointed at one end. The ground-color is a light sea-green, with marks and blotches of olive-brown, of varying size and different shades.

Corvus ossifragus, Wilson.

FISH CROW.

Corvus ossifragus, Wilson, Am. Orn. V, 1812, 27, pl. xxxvii, f. 2.—Bon. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 39.—Ib. Syn. 1828, 57.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 385.—Wagler, Syst. Avium, 1827, Corvus, No. 12.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 216.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 268; V, 479, pl. cxlvi.—Ib. Syn. 1839, 151.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 94, pl. ccxxvi.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 571, pl. lxvii, f. 2.—Samuels, 363.—Allen, B. E. Fla. 297.

Sp. Char. Fourth quill longest; second rather longer than seventh; first shorter than the ninth. Glossy black, with green and violet reflections; the gloss of the belly greenish. Length, about 15.50; wing, 10.50; tail, less than 7.00; tarsus shorter than the middle toe and claw.

Hab. Atlantic coast, from New Jersey to Florida.

The Fish Crow of the Atlantic States is readily distinguishable from the common Crow by the much smaller size (16 inches instead of 20; wing,

about 11 inches instead of 13); the bill is broader at the base and tapers more rapidly to the end; the middle toe and claw are longer than the scutellate portion of the tarsus, not shorter, the inner claw not reaching to the base of the middle one. The tail is less rounded. The gloss on the belly is green instead of violet; that on the back is mixed with green, not entirely violet.

Habits. The Fish Crow of Eastern North America has a distribution restricted to the Southern Atlantic and the Gulf shore. It is found in the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, and, according to Audubon, thence to the mouth of the Mississippi. West of that river it appears to be very rarely met with. Dr. Würdemann obtained it at Calcasieu, La. Mr. Allen, in a list of the birds of Massachusetts, published in 1864, names this species as an occasional visitor along the southern coast of that State, but I am not able to find any corroboration of the statement, and believe it to be a mistake. Dr. De Kay, in his Report on the birds of New York, states that this Crow is occasionally seen on the shores of Long Island, but Mr. Lawrence is confident that it never occurs farther north than Squaw Beach, in New Jersey. So, too, Mr. Townsend is quoted by both Audubon and Nuttall as authority for its occurrence on the Columbia River, of which we have no confirmation.

This species was first described by Wilson, who met with it and observed its habits on the sea-coast of Georgia. In some respects its habits were the exact reverse of those of the common Crow, as the former regularly retired at evening into the interior to roost, and came down to the shores of the river Savannah, on the first appearance of day, to feed. Its voice first attracted his notice; there was something in it very different from the utterances of the Crow, being more hoarse and guttural, and more varied in its modulations. The mode of flight was also observed to be quite different, as the Fish Crow occasionally soars about in the manner of the Raven and of Hawks, without flapping its wings,—a flight which the Crow is never observed to make, and is probably not able to execute.

The food was also observed to be unlike, as well as the manner of procuring it. The favorite haunt of this species seemed to be the banks of the river, up and down which they soared, and in a very dexterous manner snatched up with their claws dead fish, or other garbage found floating on the surface. This Crow was also seen to perch frequently on the back of cattle, in the manner of the Jackdaw of Europe. It was never seen to mingle with the common Crows; and never, like the latter, roosts among the reeds and marshes near the water, but always seeks the shelter of the woods, in which to pass the night.

Afterwards, in his journey near the Mississippi, Wilson observed the same birds frequenting the borders of rivers and ponds, and feeding on the reptiles found in those waters. They were close attendants upon the cow-yards, and were more solitary, but much less shy and suspicious, than the common Crow. This species was also observed by Wilson in Cape May County, New

Jersey, and in the regions bordering on the Schuylkill and the Delaware, near Philadelphia, during the shad and herring fishing, or from March till June.

During the breeding-season they were observed to separate into pairs, and to build their nests in tall trees near the sea or the river shore. One of their nests was in a tall wood at Great Egg Harbor, and they were presumed to have four or five young at a time.

In the District of Columbia, Dr. Coues found the Fish Crow to be an abundant resident throughout the year, less wary and suspicious than the common Crow, and more confined to the borders of rivers. It was generally confounded with C. americanus.

The Fish Crow appears to have received, even if it does not merit, an exemption from the general unpopularity of its race. It is generally believed to be at least a harmless species, and in its destruction of reptiles and vermin to be even beneficial. This belief, we apprehend, is for the most part well founded. Yet Mr. Audubon accuses these Crows of entering gardens and feeding upon the best fruits. He also states that, near Charleston, they commit such depredations upon the ripe figs, and become so troublesome generally in the gardens, that it is often found necessary to station a man near the fig-trees to shoot and destroy them.

The Fish Crow is confined either to the maritime districts or to the banks of rivers branching from them. Audubon states that they ascend the Delaware to quite a distance, and that some breed in New Jersey every year, but that all retire to the South on the approach of cold weather. Some go up the Mississippi to the distance of five hundred miles, but return to the seashore in the winter. In East Florida, where they were very abundant, Mr. Audubon found them breeding in February, in South Carolina on the 20th of March, and in New Jersey a month later. On the St. John’s River, during February, he saw them in flocks of several hundred, but all seemed mated and to move in pairs, sailing high in the air in the manner of Ravens. After these aerial excursions the whole body descended to the water’s edge to feed. When their fishing was over, they would alight in flocks on the live-oaks near the shore, and there keep up their gabbling, while they plumed themselves, for hours. They then returned to their fishing-grounds, where they remained until near sunset, moving into the interior to great distances, to roost on the loblolly-pines. These retreats were made in silence, but their return to the sea-shore in the early morning was made with noisy and lively demonstrations. They were then to be seen among the bays, rivers, salt ponds, and marshes, searching for small fry, and picking up any garbage they might find.

Mr. Audubon also accuses them of robbing other birds of their eggs and young. This was especially observed on the Florida Keys, where they even dared to plunder the nests of the Cormorants and White Ibis. They feed largely on the small crabs called fiddlers, which they pursue and easily capture in their burrows. He has also seen them attack and pursue small Gulls and Terns, and attempt to make them disgorge the fish they have caught; but

as the flight of the latter is swifter, they are frequently unsuccessful in these attempts at robbery. This Crow can catch living fish with considerable dexterity, but cannot feed while on the wing.

During the winter and early spring, Mr. Audubon states that these birds feed on various kinds of berries, especially those of the Ilex cassina and of the common holly, and those of the exotic tallow-tree, now so common near Charleston (Stillingia sebifera). In January and February these trees are much resorted to by the Crows, who greedily devour their white and oily seeds.

Mr. Audubon found these birds breeding generally on moderate-sized trees of the loblolly-pine, building their nests towards the extremities of the branches, about twenty feet from the ground. The nests are smaller than those of the Crow, and are built of sticks, lined with dry grasses and moss, and neatly finished with fine fibrous roots. The eggs are five or six in number, and resemble those of the Crow, but are smaller.

Two eggs of this species, from St. Simon’s Island, measure, one 1.50 in length by 1.10 in breadth, the other 1.52 by 1.09. Their ground-color is a light blue with a slight greenish tinge, marked over the entire egg with small blotches of a light brown. An egg from Great Egg Harbor, obtained by Wilson, from the old Peale Museum, and which may be a faded specimen, has no tinge of blue or green, but a ground of pinkish-gray, marked with smaller blotches and cloudings of dark drab. It measures 1.46 inches in length by one inch in breadth.

Genus PICICORVUS, Bonap.

Picicorvus, Bonaparte, Consp. Av. 1850, 384. (Type, Corvus columbianus, Wils.)

Picicorvus columbianus.

Gen. Char. Leaden-gray color, with black wings and tail. Bill longer than the head, considerably longer than the tarsus, attenuated, slightly decurved; tip without notch. Culmen and commissure curved; gonys straight or slightly concave, as long as the tarsi. Nostrils circular, completely covered by a full tuft of incumbent white bristly feathers. Tail much shorter than the wings, nearly even or slightly rounded. Wings pointed, reaching to the tip of tail. Third, fourth, and fifth quills longest. Tarsi short, scarcely longer than the middle toe, the hind toe and claw very large, reaching nearly to the middle of the middle claw, the lateral toe little shorter. A row of small scales on the middle of the sides of tarsus. Color of the single species leaden-gray, with black wings and tail.

Picicorvus columbianus.
4461

Nucifraga caryocatactes.
9673

This genus is so similar to Nucifraga as to be hardly separable; the principal difference being in the slender and more decurved and attenuated bill, with a slightly concave, instead of convex, culmen, and plain instead of spotted plumage. The differences of form are expressed by the accompanying outlines of the generic features of the two. But one species is known, this being peculiar to Western North America.

Picicorvus columbianus, Bonap.

CLARKE’S CROW.

Corvus columbianus, Wilson, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 29, pl. xx.—Bon. Obs. Wilson, 1824, No. 38.—Ib. Syn. 1828, 57.—Nuttall, I, 1832, 218. Nucifraga columbiana, Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 459, pl. ccclxii.—Ib. Syn. 1839, 156.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 127, pl. ccxxxv.—Bon. List, 1838.—Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 251. Picicorvus columbianus, Bonap. Consp. 1850, 384.—Newberry, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1837, 83.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 573.—Lord, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 121 (British Columbia).—Dall & Bannister, Trans. Chicago Acad. I, 1869, 286.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 289. “Corvus megonyx, Wagler.”

Sp. Char. Tail rounded or moderately graduated, the closed wings reaching nearly to its tip. Fourth quill longest; second considerably shorter than the sixth. General color bluish-ash, changing on the nasal feathers, the forehead, sides of head (especially around the eye), and chin, to white. The wings, including their inner surface, greenish-black, the secondaries and tertials, except the innermost, broadly tipped with white; tail white, the inner web of the fifth feather and the whole of the sixth, with the upper tail-coverts, greenish-black. The axillars plumbeous-black. Bill and feet black. Young similar in color, without additional markings of any kind. The gonys, however, convex, and the bill generally more like that of the Jays. Length of male (fresh), 12.00; wing, 7.00; tail, 4.30; tarsus, 1.20.

Hab. From Rocky Mountains to Pacific. East to Fort Kearney, north to Sitka, south to Arizona.

Habits. Clarke’s Crow was first met with by the parties composing the celebrated exploring party to the Rocky Mountains under the direction of Lewis and Clarke. It was described by Wilson in 1811, who was informed by individuals belonging to the expedition that these birds were found inhabiting the shores of the Columbia and the adjacent country in great numbers, frequenting the rivers and sea-shore, and that it seemed to have all the noisy and gregarious habits of the common Crow of Europe.

In his account of this species, Mr. Nuttall states that during his journey westward in the month of July, he first observed individuals of this bird in a small grove of pines on the borders of Bear River, near where it falls into Lake Timpanagos. This was at a height of about seven thousand feet above the sea level, and in the 42d parallel. Their habits appeared to him to correspond with those of the Nutcrackers of Europe.

He afterwards saw a considerable flock of the young birds early in August, in a lofty ravine near the Three Buttes, a remarkable isolated mountain group about forty miles west of the Lewis River. They appeared somewhat shy, and were scattered through a grove of aspens, flying, with a slight chatter, from the tops of bushes and trees, to the ground. He was of the opinion that this species never descends below the mountain plains, but that it has a constant predilection for the pine forests.

Mr. Townsend afterwards found this species abundant on the Blue Mountains of Oregon. He describes its flight as very unlike that of a Crow, being performed in jerks, in the manner of a Woodpecker. At times, when sitting, it is said to keep up a constant scream, in a very harsh and grating voice, and in an unvaried and prolonged tone. He states that it breeds in very high pine-trees, and that he did not meet with it within five hundred miles of the Columbia River.

Mr. Ridgway found this species one of the most abundant birds of the pine forests of the Sierra Nevada. East of this range it was also met with, though only in smaller numbers, in the cedar and piñon woods of the East Humboldt Mountains. He adds that it is a bird so curiously striking as at once to attract attention. It bears but very little resemblance to any bird of its family, and in its general appearance, flight, and notes approaches

so nearly to the Woodpeckers as to be usually known to the settlers as a bird of that tribe.

He further remarks that its flight much resembles that of Melanerpes torquatus, and, as it alights from the top of a tall dead tree, and sits quietly gazing around, it might readily be mistaken for one of the Picidæ. He describes them as being very active in their movements, now flying from a tree to the ground to pick up some article of food, now examining the excavations of an old dead stump or snag, or, on being approached, as flying up and alighting upon the extreme summit of a tree, out of gunshot. It is a very noisy bird, and its notes are harsh and discordant, though less so than are those of the Steller’s Jay, which is generally seen in the same localities. Its usual note is a harsh guttural churr-churr, generally uttered when two or more alight on the same tree. Occasionally an individual takes up a peculiar piping strain, which is immediately answered by all the others in the neighborhood, thus awakening the echoes of the surrounding solitude with their discordant cries. In regard to its nest he can give no positive information, but thinks that they breed in cavities in old dead trees and stumps, having found a nest in such a situation in the East Humboldt Mountains, which he thinks belonged to a pair of these birds which were flying about, and seen to enter this cavity.

Dr. Newberry, in his Report on the zoölogy of his route, states that he found this species rather common along a large portion of it, and was thus enabled to study its habits at leisure. He found it strictly confined to the highlands and mountains, never, where he saw it, descending to a lower altitude than about four thousand feet. On the other hand, while crossing the Cascade Mountains at the line of perpetual snow, seven thousand feet above the sea-level, he has seen this bird, in company with the Melanerpes torquatus, flying over the snow-covered peaks three thousand feet above him.

He first met with this bird on the spur of the Sierra Nevada, near Lassen’s Butte, and found it constantly, when in high and timbered regions, from there to the Columbia. He describes its habits as a compound, in about equal parts of those of the Jays and of the Woodpeckers. Its cry he speaks of as particularly harsh and disagreeable, something like that of Steller’s Jay, but louder and more discordant. It seems to combine the shrewdness with all the curiosity of the Jays and Crows, and from its shyness is a very difficult bird to shoot, the Doctor never being able to get directly within killing distance of one of them, but only obtaining specimens by concealing himself and waiting for them to approach him. Apparently from excess of caution, it almost invariably alights on a dry tree. Even when going to a living tree for its food, it always flies first into a dry one, if one is near, to reconnoitre, and, if the coast is clear, it begins to feed. At the first movement of an intruder, without uttering a note, it puts a safe distance between itself and its enemy.

The food of this bird, at the time when Dr. Newberry visited its haunts, consisted exclusively of the seeds of the yellow pine (P. ponderosa), in dislodging which from the cones the bird displays great dexterity. Both Maximilian’s Jay and Steller’s Jay were, at that time, feeding on the same seeds, but not so exclusively.

Dr. Suckley obtained a specimen of this bird as far east as Milk River, in Nebraska, about two hundred miles east of the Rocky Mountains.

In crossing the Cascade Mountains, in 1853, Dr. Cooper found these birds quite abundant on the banks of the Yakima River, and from thence north wherever there were trees of the long-leaved pine, the seeds of which were its principal food. On returning to Vancouver during the severe cold weather of the following January, these birds appeared there in considerable numbers. At no other season of the year has he met with them west of the Cascade Mountains, and believes these migrations westward are only made in the severest weather. They extend eastward throughout Washington Territory, as Dr. Cooper has shot them at Fort Laramie, and met with a straggling pair even as far east as Fort Kearney. Dr. Cooper has never known these birds to eat anything except seeds and berries. They rarely descend to the ground, and never frequent river-banks, or other places, for fish or carrion. They may be seen on the tops of trees extracting seeds from cones, hanging head downwards, like a Chickadee. Dr. Cooper has observed this bird pecking at dead bark, in quest of insects. When feeding they are very shy, flying off, if approached, to a great distance before alighting. They are not known to visit the Coast Mountains south of San Francisco, but abound in the Rocky Mountains throughout our limits.

Mr. J. K. Lord notes the arrival of this species at Fort Colville, in May, in large flocks. They were hopping busily from branch to branch, amidst pine-trees.

The statement made to Wilson that this species frequents rivers and seashores, and his inference that its formidable claws indicated that they feed on living animals, is controverted by Mr. Lord. They never frequent river-banks, never by any chance eat fish, and never capture any living thing. Their habits are strictly arboreal, and their food the seeds of pine-trees. These noisy seed-hunters use their formidable claws to enable them to hang on to the pine cones while they are extracting the seed, which they are obliged to get out from under scaly coverings. For this nature has given them feet and claws that serve the purpose of hands, and a powerful bill, like a small crowbar. The cone must be steadied when they pry it open, or it would snap and fall. One foot clasps it, and the powerful claws hold it firmly. The other foot, encircling a branch, supports the bird in every possible position, the long grasping claws being equal to any emergency. The cone is thus fixed, and the seeds are forced out from under the scales. Mr. Lord collected a large packet of seeds of the Abies douglassi from the crops of these birds.

On their arrival they assemble in immense flocks, and the noise they make he describes as a most discordant, continuous, grating clatter, intensified at times into a perfect shriek. These assemblies last about a week, after which they separate in pairs.

A nest of this bird was found by Mr. Lord in the top of a lofty pine at least two hundred feet high,—felled in cutting the boundary line. By chance he discovered the nest, about which the old birds were hovering, leaving no doubt of its identity. This nest was very large and composed of fir twigs, bits of bark, the leaves of the pine, fine root-fibres, with small pieces of moss, and gray lichens mixed carelessly with the other materials. It was shallow and round, and presented a large extent of surface beyond the margins of the hollow containing the eggs. The eggs were in fragments, much like the eggs of Steller’s Jay in color, but of a lighter shade of bluish-green. He thinks that their habit is to build in the very tallest pines.

Dr. Kennerly also met with this Crow west of Albuquerque, in New Mexico, in the thick pine woods skirting the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, where it was quite abundant. He rarely saw more than two or three together. None were met with after leaving the mountains.

A single specimen of this crow was obtained at Sitka, by Bischoff.

Genus GYMNOKITTA, Pr. Max.

Gymnorhinus, Pr. Max. Reise Nord. Amer. II, 1841, 21. (Type, G. cyanocephala.)

Gymnokitta, Pr. Max. “1850,” Gray.

Cyanocephalus, Bonap. “1842,” preoccupied in Botany.

Gymnokitta cyanocephala.
16247

Gen. Char. 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. Color of the single species blue, most intense anteriorly; the throat streaked with white.

The bill in this genus is not unlike that of Sturnus and Sturnella, and conspicuous among Corvinæ by its uncovered nostrils.

Gymnokitta cyanocephala, Pr. Max.

MAXIMILIAN’S JAY.

Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus, Pr. Max., Reise in das innere Nord-Amerika, II, 1841, 21.—Ib. Voyage dans l’Am. du Nord, III, 1843, 296. Gymnokitta cyanocephala, “Pr. Max. 1850,” Bp. Conspectus, 1850, 382.—Cassin, Illust. I, VI, 1854, 165, pl. xxviii.—Newberry, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV, 1857, 83.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 574.—Max. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 193.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 292. Psilorhinus cyanocephalus, Gray, Genera. Cyanocorax cassini, M’Call, Pr. A. N. Sc. V, June, 1851, 216.

Gymnokitta cyanocephala.

Sp. Char. Wings considerably longer than the tail, and reaching to within an inch of its tip. Tail nearly even. General color dull blue, paler on the abdomen, the middle of which is tinged with ash; the head and neck of a much deeper and more intense blue, darker on the crown. Chin and forepart of the throat whitish, streaked with blue. Length, 10.00; wing, 5.90; tail, 4.50; tarsus, 1.50. Young bird not differing in markings.

Hab. Rocky Mountains of Colorado, to Cascade Mts. of California and Oregon. Not on the Pacific coast? South to New Mexico and Arizona.

The female is appreciably different from the male, both in size and plumage, being smaller, and of a light bluish-ash tint. This difference is readily appreciable when the birds are seen flying.

Habits. Maximilian’s Jay was discovered and first described by that eminent naturalist, Maximilian, Prince of Wied, in his book of travels in North America, published in 1841. Mr. Edward Kern, who was connected with Colonel Fremont’s exploring expedition in 1846, was the first to bring specimens of this interesting and remarkable bird to the notice of American naturalists, transmitting them to the Philadelphia Academy. The specimens procured by its discoverer were met with by him on Maria’s River, one of the tributaries of the Upper Missouri, in the extreme northern portion of our northwestern territory, a point much farther north than it has been met with by any other naturalist. As this species has since been seen in large numbers in New Mexico, it may be presumed to extend its movements over quite an extended area of distribution in the region of the Rocky Mountains.

According to the more recent observations of Mr. Ridgway, the Maximilian Jay inhabits exclusively the nut-pine and cedar woods on the interior mountain ranges, and is one of the most characteristic birds of those regions. This species he states to be eminently gregarious, even breeding in colonies, and in winter congregating in flocks, sometimes of thousands. Ever restless and in motion, as it moves it is constantly uttering its curious, querulous notes. It is a very conspicuous bird, and is one well worthy of particular attention. Its blue color is the only thing suggestive of its affinity to the Jay. All its habits are different, and its appearance is quite peculiar. It is as essentially migratory as the Ectopistes migratoria, its coming and its going being quite as sudden and uncertain. On one occasion, in visiting a nut-pine wood, Mr. Ridgway found it full of roving, noisy troops of these birds, but upon visiting the same locality the next day not one could be seen.

He also states that these birds are exceedingly early in their nesting, as he met with companies of fully fledged young flying about on the 21st of April. Near Carson City, April 20, 1868, he found these birds abundant among the scattered cedars and nut-pines on the lower slopes of the hills. They were in pairs, often three or four pairs in company.

The notes of this bird are both peculiar and curious. The usual ones are said to have some resemblance to the querulous wailings of the Screech Owl; but none, in his opinion, have any resemblance to the cry of the Catbird.

It flies very swiftly, but with a gentle floating motion, very much in the manner of the Robin. In its movements among the small cedars, it generally alighted upon the summit of a tree, and, quietly sitting there, would look about in the manner of the Picicorvus columbianus. In flying, it continually uttered a very peculiar querulous note, resembling very much one of the notes of the Magpie,—the peculiarly soft note of that bird uttered during the love-season, or when its nest is approached. In searching among the cedars, Mr. Ridgway found several of its nests. Nearly all had been deserted, and there were several families of fully fledged young flying about. One nest contained four fully feathered young. When these had been taken, and placed in a hat, they all jumped out, squalling vociferously. These nests were all saddled upon horizontal branches of cedars, and, except in their greater bulk, they closely resembled the nest of the eastern Blue Jay.

In autumn and in winter the large flocks of these birds, as they fly back and forth over the hills, present a very peculiar appearance. Their flight is then very swift.

Dr. Kennerly, in November, 1853, frequently saw large flocks of these birds between the Puebla of Laguna and the Sierra Madre, about a hundred miles west of Albuquerque, in New Mexico. They were found chiefly frequenting the watercourses, and when startled would circle around, rising higher above their heads, uttering their singular cries; then suddenly descending

they would alight in the top of some tree on the adjoining cliffs. He compares its voice to that of the common Catbird.

Dr. T. C. Henry also repeatedly noticed these birds in the vicinity of Fort Webster, in New Mexico. He first met with them near San Miguel, in July, 1852, where he observed a party of about thirty flitting through the cedars along the roadside. They were chiefly young birds, and were constantly alighting on the ground for the purpose of capturing lizards, which they killed with great readiness, and devoured. After that he repeatedly, in winter, saw these birds near Fort Webster, and usually in flocks of about forty or fifty. They evinced great wariness, and were very difficult of approach.

The flocks would usually alight near the summit of a hill and pass rapidly down its sides, all the birds keeping quite near to each other, and frequently alighting on the ground. They appeared to be very social, and kept up a continual twittering note. This bird, so far as Dr. Henry observed it, is exclusively a mountain species, and never seen on the plains or bottom-lands, and was never observed singly, or even in a single pair, but always in companies.

Dr. Newberry met with this species in the basin of the Des Chutes, in Oregon. He first noticed it in September. Early every morning flocks of from twenty-five to thirty of these birds came across, in their usual straggling flight, chattering as they flew to the trees on a hill near the camp, and then, from tree to tree, they made their way to the stream to drink. He describes their note, when flying or feeding, as a frequently repeated ca-ca-că. Sometimes, when made by a straggler separated from mate or flock, it was rather loud and harsh, but was usually soft and agreeable. When disturbed, their cry was harsher. They were very shy, and could only be shot by lying in wait for them. Subsequently he had an opportunity of seeing them feed, and of watching them carefully as they were eating the berries of the cedars, and in their habits and cries they seemed closely to resemble Jays. A specimen, previously killed, was found with its crop filled with the seeds of the yellow pine.

Dr. Cooper has seen specimens of this bird from Washoe, just east of the California State line, and he was informed by Mr. Clarence King that they frequent the junipers on mountains near Mariposa.

From Dr. Coues we learn that this bird is very abundant at Fort Whipple, where it remains all the year. It breeds in the retired portions of the neighboring mountains of San Francisco and Bill Williams, the young leaving the nest in July. As the same birds are ready to fly in April, at Carson City, it may be that they have two broods in Arizona. During the winter they collect in immense flocks, and in one instance Dr. Coues estimates their number at a thousand or more. In a more recent contribution to the Ibis (April, 1872), Dr. Coues gives a more full account of his observations in respect to this bird. In regard to geographical range he considers its

distribution very nearly the same with that of the Picicorvus. Mr. Aiken has recently met with these birds in Colorado Territory, where, however, Mr. Allen did not obtain specimens. General McCall found these birds abundant near Santa Fé, in New Mexico, at an altitude Of seven thousand feet; and the late Captain Feilner obtained specimens at Fort Crook, in Northeastern California. Dr. Coues considers its range to be the coniferous zone of vegetation within the geographical area bounded eastward by the foot-hills and slopes of the Rocky Mountains; westward by the Cascade and Coast ranges; northward, perhaps to Sitka, but undetermined; and somewhat so southward, not traced so far as the tierra fria of Mexico.

Dr. Coues adds that, like most birds which subsist indifferently on varied animal or vegetable food, this species is not, strictly speaking, migratory, as it can find food in winter anywhere except at its loftiest points of distribution. A descent of a few thousand feet from the mountains thus answers all the purposes of a southward journey performed by other species, so far as food is concerned, while its hardy nature enables it to endure the rigors of winter. According to his observations, this bird feeds principally upon juniper berries and pine seeds, and also upon acorns and other small hard fruits.

Dr. Coues describes this bird as garrulous and vociferous, with curiously modulated chattering notes when at ease, and with extremely loud harsh cries when excited by fear or anger. It is also said to be restless and impetuous, as if of an unbalanced mind. Its attitudes on the ground, to which it frequently descends, are essentially Crow-like, and its gait is an easy walk or run, very different from the leaping manner of progress made by the Jays. When perching, its usual attitude is stiff and firm. Its flight resembles that of the Picicorvus. After breeding, these birds unite in immense flocks, but disperse again in pairs when the breeding-season commences.

Nothing, so far, has been published in regard to the character of the eggs.

Subfamily GARRULINÆ.

Char. Wings short, rounded; not longer or much shorter than the tail, which is graduated, sometimes excessively so. Wings reaching not much beyond the lower tail-coverts. Bristly feathers at base of bill variable. Bill nearly as long as the head, or shorter. Tarsi longer than the bill or than the middle toe. Outer lateral claws rather shorter than the inner.

The preceding diagnosis may perhaps characterize the garruline birds, as compared with the Crows. The subdivisions of the group are as follows:—

A. Nostrils moderate, completely covered by incumbent feathers.

a. Tail much longer than the wings; first primary attenuated, falcate.

Pica. Head without crest.

b. Tail about as long as the wings; first primary not falcate.

Cyanura. Head with lengthened narrow crest. Wing and tail blue, banded with black.

Cyanocitta. Head without crest. Above blue, with a gray patch on the back. No bands on wing and tail.

Xanthoura. Head without crest. Color above greenish; the head blue; lateral tail-feathers yellow.

Perisoreus. Head full and bushy. Bill scarcely half the head, with white feathers over the nostrils. Plumage dull.

B. Nostrils very large, naked, uncovered by feathers.

Psilorhinus. Head not crested; tail broad; wings two thirds as long as the tail.

Calocitta. Head with a recurved crest; wings less than half as long as the tail.

There is a very close relationship between the Jays and the Titmice, the chief difference being in size rather than in any other distinguishing feature. The feathers at the base of the bill, however, in the Jays, are bristly throughout, with lateral branches reaching to the very tip. In Paridæ these feathers are inclined to be broader, with the shaft projecting considerably beyond the basal portion, or the lateral branches are confined to the basal portion, and extended forwards. There is no naked line of separation between the scutellæ on the outer side of the tarsi. The basal joint of the middle toe is united almost or quite to the end to the lateral, instead of half-way. The first primary is usually less than half the second, instead of rather more; the fourth and fifth primaries nearly equal and longest, instead of the fifth being longer than the fourth.

Genus PICA, Cuvier.

Coracias, Linnæus, Syst. Nat. 1735 (Gray).

Pica, Brisson, Ornithologia, 1760, and of Cuvier (Agassiz). (Type, Corvus pica, L.)

Cleptes, Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. 2d Ser. I, 1847, 47.

Gen. Char. Tail very long, forming much more than half the total length; the feathers much graduated; the lateral scarcely more than half the middle. First primary falcate, curved, and attenuated. Bill about as high as broad at the base; the culmen and gonys much curved, and about equal; the bristly feathers reaching nearly to the middle of the bill. Nostrils nearly circular. Tarsi very long; middle toe scarcely more than two thirds the length. A patch of naked skin beneath and behind the eye.

The peculiar characteristic of this genus, in addition to the very long graduated tail, lies in the attenuated, falcate first primary. Calocitta, which has an equally long or longer tail, has the first primary as in the Jays generally (besides having the nostrils exposed).

Pica hudsonica.
4547

A specimen of P. nuttalli has the lateral tarsal plates with two or three transverse divisions on the lower third. This has not been observed by us to occur in P. hudsonica.

Species and Varieties.

P. caudata. Head, neck, breast, interscapulars, lining of wing, tail-coverts and tibiæ, deep black: wings metallic greenish-blue; tail rich metallic green, the feathers passing through bronze and reddish-violet into violet-blue, at their tips. Scapulars, abdomen, sides, flanks, and inner webs of primaries, pure white. Sexes alike; young similar.

a. Bill and bare space around the eye black.

Wing, 7.50; tail, 9.50 or less, its graduation less than half its length, 4.50; culmen, 1.20; tarsus, 1.75; middle toe, 1.05. Hab. Europe … var. caudata.[55]

Wing, over 8.00 (8.50 maximum); tail over 10.00 (13.50, max., its graduation more than half its length, 7.70); culmen, 1.55; tarsus, 1.75; middle toe, 1.05. Hab. Northern and Middle North America, exclusive of the Atlantic Province of United States and California … var. hudsonica.

b. Bill and bare space around the eye yellow.

Wing, 7.50; tail, 10.50; its graduation, 5.00; culmen, 1.50; tarsus, 1.75; middle toe, 1.05. Hab. California … var. nuttalli.

Pica caudata, var. hudsonica, Bonap.

MAGPIE.

Corvus pica, Forster, Phil. Trans. LXXII, 1772, 382.—Wilson, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 75, pl. xxxv.—Bon. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 40.—Ib. Syn. 1828, 57.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 219.—Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 408, pl. ccclvii (not of Linnæus). Corvus hudsonica, Jos. Sabine, App. Narr. Franklin’s Journey, 1823, 25, 671. Picus hudsonica, Bonap. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 383.—Maxim. Reise Nord Amer. I, 1839, 508.—Ib. Cabanis, Journ. 1856, 197.—Newberry, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV, 1857, 84.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 576, pl. xxv.—Lord, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 121 (British Columbia).—Cooper & Suckley, 213, pl. xxv.—Dall & Bannister, Trans. Chicago Acad. I, 1869, 286 (Alaska).—Finsch, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 39 (Alaska).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 296. Cleptes hudsonicus, Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. 2d Ser. I, Dec. 1847, 47. Pica melanoleuca, “Vieill.” Aud. Syn. 1839, 157.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 99, pl. ccxxvii.

Pica nuttalli.

Sp. Char. Bill and naked skin behind the eye black. General color black. The belly, scapulars, and inner webs of the primaries white; hind part of back grayish; exposed portion of the tail-feathers glossy green, tinged with purple and violet near the end; wings glossed with green; the secondaries and tertials with blue; throat-feathers spotted with white in younger specimens. Length, 19.00; wing, 8.50; tail, 13.00. Young in color and appearance similar generally to the adult.

Hab. The northern regions of North America. The middle and western Provinces of the United States exclusive of California; Wisconsin, Michigan, and Northern Illinois, in winter.

The American Magpie is almost exactly similar to the European, and differs only in larger size and disproportionably longer tail. According to Maximilian and other authors, the iris of the American bird has a grayish-blue outer ring, wanting in the European bird, and the voice is quite different. It is, however, difficult to consider the two birds otherwise than as geographical races of one primitive stock.

Habits. The American Magpie has an extended western distribution from Arizona on the south to Alaska on the northwest. It has been met with as far to the east as the Missouri River, and is found from there to the Pacific. It is abundant at Sitka; it was observed at Ounga, one of the Shumagin Islands, and was obtained by Bischoff at Kodiak.

PLATE XXXVIII.

1. Pica hudsonica. ♂ Nev., 53629.

2. Gymnokitta cyanocephala. ♂ Cal., 16247.

3. Pica nuttalli. ♂ Cal., 3938.

4. Picicorvus columbianus. Oregon, 4461.

Richardson observed these birds on the Saskatchewan, where a few remain even in winter, but are much more frequent in summer.

Mr. Lord, the naturalist of the British branch of the Northwest Boundary Survey, characterizes our Magpie as murderous, because of its cruel persecution of galled and suffering mules, its picking out the eyes of living animals, and its destruction of birds. These birds caused so much trouble to the party, in winter, at Colville, as to become utterly unbearable, and a large number were destroyed by strychnine. They were then so tame and impudent that he repeatedly gave them food from his hand without their showing any evidence of fear. He says they nest in March.

Dr. Suckley states that this Magpie is abundant throughout the central region of Oregon and Washington Territory. He first met with it a hundred miles west of Fort Union, at the mouth of the Yellowstone. It became more abundant as the mountains were approached, and so continued almost as far west as the Cascade Mountains, where the dense forests were an effectual barrier. On Puget Sound he saw none until August, after which, during the fall, it was tolerably abundant. It breeds throughout the interior. He obtained a young bird, nearly fledged, about May 5, at Fort Dalles. At this place a few birds remain throughout the winter, but a majority retire farther south during the cold weather. One of its cries, he says, resembles a peculiar call of Steller’s Jay.

Mr. Ridgway regards this Magpie as one of the most characteristic and conspicuous birds of the interior region, distinguished both for the elegance of its form and the beauty of its plumage. While not at all rare in the fertile mountain cañons, the principal resort of this species is the rich bottom-land of the rivers. The usual note of the Magpie is a frequently uttered chatter, very peculiar, and, when once heard, easily recognized. During the nesting-season it utters a softer and more musical and plaintive note, sounding something like kay´-e-ehk-kay-e. It generally flies about in small flocks, and, like others of its family, is very fond of tormenting owls. In the winter, in company with the Ravens, it resorts to the slaughter-houses to feed on offal. The young differ but little in plumage from the adult, the metallic colors being even a little more vivid; the white spotting of the throat is characteristic of the immature bird.

The nests were found by Mr. Ridgway in various situations. Some were in cedars, some in willows, and others in low shrubs. In every instance the nest was domed, the inner and real nest being enclosed in an immense thorny covering, which far exceeded it in bulk. In the side of this thorny protection is a winding passage leading into the nest, possibly designed to conceal the very long tail of the bird, which, if exposed to view, would endanger its safety.

Dr. Cooper first met this bird east of the Cascade Mountains, near the Yakima, and from there in his journey northward as far as the 49th degree it was common, as well as in all the open unwooded regions until the mountains were passed on his return westward.

Dr. Kennerly met with these birds on the Little Colorado in New Mexico, in December. He found them in great numbers soon after leaving the Rio Grande, and from time to time on the march to California. They seemed to live indifferently in the deep cañons among the hills or in the valleys, but were only found near water.

Dr. Newberry first met with these birds on the banks of one of the tributaries of the Des Chutes, one hundred miles south of the Columbia, afterwards on the Columbia, but nowhere in large numbers. He regards them as much less gregarious in their habits than Pica nuttalli, as all the birds he noticed were solitary or in pairs, while the Yellow-bills were often seen in flocks of several hundreds.

All accounts of this bird agree in representing it as frequently a great source of annoyance to parties of exploration, especially in its attacks upon horses worn down and galled by fatigue and privations. In the memorable narrative of Colonel Pike’s journey in New Mexico, these birds, rendered bold and voracious by want, are described as assembling around that miserable party in great numbers, picking the sore backs of their perishing horses, and snatching at all the food they could reach. The party of Lewis and Clark, who were the first to add this bird to our fauna, also describe them as familiar and voracious, penetrating into their tents, snatching the meat even from their dishes, and frequently, when the hunters were engaged in dressing their game, seizing the meat suspended within a foot or two of their heads.

Mr. Nuttall, in his tour across the continent, found these birds so familiar and greedy as to be easily taken, as they approached the encampment for food, by the Indian boys, who kept them prisoners. They soon became reconciled to their confinement, and were continually hopping around and tugging and struggling for any offal thrown to them.

Observers have reported this bird from different parts of Arizona and New Mexico; but Dr. Coues writes me that he never saw it at Fort Whipple, or elsewhere in the first-named Territory. He found it breeding, however, in the Raton Mountains, in June, under the following circumstances, recorded at the time in his journal.

“Yesterday, the 8th, we were rolling over smooth prairie, ascending a little the while, but so gradually that only the change in the flora indicated the difference in elevation. The flowery verdure was passed, scrubby junipers came thicker and faster, and pine-clad mountain-tops took shape before us. We made the pass to-day, rounding along a picturesque ravine, and the noon halt gave me a chance to see something of the birds. Troops of beautiful Swallows were on wing, and as their backs turned in their wayward flight, the violet-green colors betrayed the species. A colony of them were breeding on the face of a cliff, apparently like H. lunifrons, but the nests were not accessible. Whilst I was watching their movements, a harsh scream attracted my attention, and the next moment a beautiful Magpie

flew swiftly past with quivering wings, and with a flirt of the glittering tail and a curious evolution dashed into a dense thicket close by. In the hope of seeing him again, and perhaps of finding his nest, I hurried to the spot where he had disappeared, and pushed into the underbrush. In a few moments I stood in a little open space, surrounded on all sides and covered above with a network of vines interlacing the twigs and foliage so closely that the sun’s rays hardly struggled through. A pretty shady bower! and there, sure enough, was the nest, not likely to be overlooked, for it was as big as a bushel basket,—a globular mass, hung in the top of one of the taller saplings, about twelve feet from the ground. The mother bird was at home, and my bustling approach alarmed her; she flew out of the nest with loud cries of distress, which brought the male to her side in an instant. As I scrambled up the slender trunk, which swayed with my weight, both birds kept flying about my head with redoubled outcry, alighting for an instant, then dashing past again so close that I thought they would peck at me. As I had no means of preserving the nest, I would not take it down, and contented myself with such observations as I could make whilst bestriding a limb altogether too slender for comfort. It was nearly spherical in shape, seemed to be about eighteen inches in diameter, arched over, with a small hole on one side. The walls, composed entirely of interlaced twigs bristling outwardly in every direction, were extremely thick, the space inside being much less than one would expect, and seemingly hardly enough to accommodate the bird’s long tail, which I suppose must be held upright. The nest was lined with a little coarse dried grass, and contained six young ones nearly ready to fly. Authors state that the American Magpie lays only two eggs; but I suppose that this particular pair lived too far from scientific centres to find out what was expected of them. Other birds, noticed to-day, were Steller’s Jays among the pines and cedars, a flock of Chrysomitris, apparently pinus, feeding on willow-buds along the rivulet that threaded the gorge, and some Robins.”

The eggs of this Magpie are somewhat larger than any I have seen of P. nuttalli, and are differently marked and colored. Six specimens from the Sierra Nevada exhibit the following measurements: 1.40 × 0.98, 1.22 × 1.00, 1.41 × 0.95, 1.28 × 0.95, 1.26 × 0.92, 1.32 × 0.96. Their ground-color is a grayish-white, or light gray with a yellowish tinge, spotted with blotches, dottings, and dashes of a purplish or violet brown. In some they are sparsely distributed, showing plainly the ground, more confluent at the larger end. In others they are finer, more generally and more thickly distributed. In others they are much larger and of deeper color, and cover the whole of the larger end with one large cloud of confluent markings. None of these closely resembles the eggs of P. nuttalli. The usual number of eggs in a nest, according to Mr. Ridgway, varies from six to nine, although it is said that ten are sometimes found.

Pica caudata, var. nuttalli, Aud.

YELLOW-BILLED MAGPIE.

Pica nuttalli, Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 450, pl. ccclxii.—Ib. Syn. 1839, 152.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 104, pl. ccxxviii.—Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 383.—Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 236.—Newberry, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV, 1857, 84.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 578, pl. xxvi.—Heerm. X, S, 54.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 295. Cleptes nuttalli, Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. 2d Series, I, 1847, 46.

Sp. Char. Bill, and naked skin behind the eye, bright yellow; otherwise similar to P. hudsonica. Length, 17.00; wing, 8.00; tail. 10.00.

Hab. California (Sacramento Valley, and southern coast region).

We cannot look upon the Yellow-billed Magpie otherwise than as a local race of the common kind, since it is well known that among the Jays many species have the bill either black or yellow according to sex, age, or locality; and as the Yellow-billed Magpie occupies a more southern locality than usual, and one very different from that of the black-billed species, it well may exhibit a special geographical variation. The great restriction in range is another argument in favor of its being a simple variety.

Habits. The Yellow-billed Magpie seems to be exclusively a bird of California, where it is very abundant, and where it replaces almost entirely the more eastern form. Mr. Ridgway, who met with this variety only in the valley of the Sacramento, states that he there found it very abundant among the oaks of that region. It differed from the common Magpie in being exceedingly gregarious, moving about among the oak groves in small companies, incessantly chattering as it flew, or as it sat among the branches of the trees. He saw many of their nests in the tops of the oaks,—indeed, all were so situated,—yet he never met with the nests of the other species in a high tree, not even in the river valleys. The young of this Magpie have the white of the scapulars marked with rusty triangular spots.

Dr. Cooper found this Magpie abundant in the valleys of California, especially near the middle of the State, except during the spring months, when none were seen in the Santa Clara Valley, the supposition being that they had retired eastward to the mountains to build their nests. At Santa Barbara he found them numerous in April and May, and saw their nests in oak-trees. The young were already fledged by the 25th of April. The nest, he states, is composed of a large mass of coarse twigs twisted together in a spherical form, with a hole in the side. The eggs he saw resembled those of the other species, and are described as being whitish-green, spotted with cinereous-gray and olive-brown. They also breed abundantly about Monterey. They have not been traced to the northern border of the State.

Their food, Dr. Cooper adds, consists of almost everything animal and vegetable that they can find, and they come about farms and gardens to pick up whatever they can meet with. They have a loud call that sounds like

pait-pait, with a variety of chattering notes, in tone resembling the human voice, which, indeed, they can be taught to imitate.

An egg of this species from Monterey, California, is of a rounded oval shape, a little less obtuse at one end than the other. The ground-color is a light drab, so closely marked with fine cloudings of an obscure lavender color as nearly to conceal the ground, and to give the egg the appearance of an almost uniform violet-brown. It measures 1.20 inches in length by .90 in breadth.

Genus CYANURA, Swainson.

Cyanurus, Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 495, Appendix. (Type, Corvus cristatus, Linn.)

Cyanocitta, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851 (not of Strickland, 1845).

Cyanura cristata.
1423

Gen. Char. Head crested. Wings and tail blue, with transverse black bars; head and back of the same color. Bill rather slender, somewhat broader than high at the base; culmen about equal to the head. Nostrils large, nearly circular, concealed by bristles. Tail about as long as the wings, lengthened, graduated. Hind claw large, longer than its digit.

Species and Varieties.

Common Characters. Wings and tail deep blue, the latter, with the secondaries and tertials, sometimes also the greater coverts, barred with black.

A. Greater coverts, tertials, secondaries, and tail-feathers tipped broadly with white; lower parts generally, including lateral and under parts of head, whitish.

C. cristata. Head above, back, scapulars, lesser wing-coverts, rump and upper tail-coverts, light ashy purplish-blue; a narrow frontal band, a loral spot, streak behind the eye, and collar round the neck, commencing under the crest, passing down across the end of the auriculars and expanding into a crescent across the jugulum, black; throat tinged with purplish-gray, the breast and sides with smoky-gray; abdomen, anal region, and crissum pure white. Wing, 5.70; tail, 6.00; bill, 1.25; tarsus, 1.35; middle toe, .85; crest, 2.20. Hab. Eastern Province of North America.

B. No white on wing or tail; lower parts deep blue.

C. stelleri. Color deep blue, less intense than on wings and tail, except dorsal region, which may be deep blue, ashy-brown, or sooty-black. Head and neck dark grayish-brown, dusky-blue, or deep black, the throat more grayish.

a. No white patch over the eye; throat and chin not abruptly lighter than adjacent parts; secondary coverts not barred with black.

Whole head, neck, jugulum, and dorsal region plain sooty-black; no blue streaks on forehead, or else these only faintly indicated. The blue everywhere of a uniform dull greenish-indigo shade. Depth of bill, .45; crest, 2.60; wing, 6.00; tail, 6.00; culmen, 1.35; tarsus, 1.75; middle toe, 1.00. Hab. Northwest coast, from Sitka to the Columbia … var. stelleri.

Whole head, neck, jugulum, and dorsal region plumbeous-umber; the forehead conspicuously streaked with blue, and the crest washed with the same. The blue of two very different shades, the wings and tail being deep indigo, the body and tail-coverts greenish cobalt-blue. Depth of bill, .35; crest, 2.80; wing, 6.00; tail, 6.00; culmen, 1.25; tarsus, 1.55; middle toe, .90. Hab. Sierra Nevada, from Fort Crook to Fort Tejon … var. frontalis.

b. A patch of silky white over the eye; throat and chin abruptly lighter than the adjoining parts; secondary coverts barred distinctly with black.

Whole crest, cheeks, and foreneck deep black; the crest scarcely tinged with blue; dorsal region light ashy-plumbeous; forehead conspicuously streaked with milk-white. The blue contrasted as in var. frontalis. Depth of bill, .35; crest, 3.00; wing, 6.10; tail, 6.10; culmen, 1.25; tarsus, 1.65; middle toe, .90. Hab. Rocky Mountains of United States … var. macrolopha

Whole crest, cheeks, and foreneck deep black, the crest strongly tinged with blue; dorsal region greenish plumbeous-blue. The blue nearly uniform; forehead conspicuously streaked with bluish-white. Depth of bill, .35; crest, 2.80; wing, 5.90; tail, 5.90; culmen, 1.30; tarsus, 1.60; middle toe, .90. Hab. Highlands of Mexico … var. diademata.[56]

Whole crest, cheeks, and foreneck deep blue, lores black; dorsal region deep purplish-blue; forehead conspicuously streaked with light blue. The blue of a uniform shade—deep purplish-indigo—throughout. Depth of bill, .40; length of crest, 2.50; wing, 5.80; tail, 5.80; culmen, 1.30; tarsus, 1.60; middle toe, .95. Hab. Southeastern Mexico (Xalapa, Belize, etc.) … var. coronata.[57]

The different varieties just indicated under Cyanura stelleri, namely, stelleri, frontalis, macrolopha, diademata, and coronata, all appear to represent

well-marked and easily defined races of one primitive species, the gradation from one form to the other being very regular, and agreeing with the general variation attendant upon geographical distribution. Thus, beginning with C. stelleri, we have the anterior part of head and body, including interscapular region, black, without any markings on the head. In frontalis the back is lighter, and a glossy blue shows on the forehead. In macrolopha the blue of posterior parts invades the anterior, tingeing them very decidedly, leaving the head black, with a blue shade to the crest; the forehead is glossed with bluish-white; the upper eyelids have a white spot. In coronata the blue tinge is deeper, and pervades the entire body, except the side of the head. The shade of blue is different from macrolopha, and more like that of stelleri; diademata, intermediate in habitat between macrolopha and coronata, is also intermediate in colors. The tail becomes rather more even, and the bill more slender, as we proceed from stelleri to coronata. The bars on the secondary coverts become darker in the same progression.

Cyanura cristata, Swainson.

BLUE JAY.

Corvus cristatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, (10th ed.,) 1758, 106; (12th ed.,) 1766, 157.—Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 369.—Wilson, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 2, pl. I, f. 1.—Bon. Obs. Wilson, 1824, No. 41.—Doughty, Cab. N. H. II, 1832, 62, pl. vi.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 11; V, 1839, 475, pl. cii. Garrulus cristatus, “Vieillot, Encyclop. 890.”—Ib. Dict. XI, 477.—Bon. Syn. 1828, 58.—Sw. F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 293.—Vieillot, Galerie, I, 1824, 160, pl. cii.—Aud. Birds Am. IV, 110, pl. ccxxxi.—Max. Caban. J. 1858, VI, 192. Pica cristata, Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827, Pica, No. 8. Cyanurus cristatus, Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, App. 495.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 580.—Samuels, 364.—Allen, B. E. Fla. 297. Cyanocorax cristatus, Bon. List, 1838. Cyanocitta cristata, Strickland, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1845, 261.—Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 221. Cyanogarrulus cristatus, Bon. Consp. 1850, 376.

Sp. Char. Crest about one third longer than the bill. Tail much graduated. General color above light purplish-blue; wings and tail-feathers ultramarine-blue; the secondaries and tertials, the greater wing-coverts, and the exposed surface of the tail, sharply banded with black and broadly tipped with white, except on the central tail-feathers. Beneath white; tinged with purplish-blue on the throat, and with bluish-brown on the sides. A black crescent on the forepart of the breast, the horns passing forward and connecting with a half-collar on the back of the neck. A narrow frontal line and loral region black; feathers on the base of the bill blue, like the crown. Female rather duller in color, and a little smaller. Length, 12.25; wing, 5.65; tail, 5.75.

Hab. Eastern North America, west to the Missouri. Northeastern Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 494). North to Red River and Moose Factory.

Specimens from north of the United States are larger than more southern ones. A series of specimens from Florida, brought by Mr. Boardman, are quite peculiar in some respects, and probably represent a local race resident there. In these Florida specimens the wing and tail are each an inch or

more shorter than in Pennsylvania examples, while the bill is not any smaller. The crest is very short; the white spaces on secondaries and tail-feathers more restricted.

Cyanura cristata.

Habits. The common Blue Jay of North America is found throughout the continent, from the Atlantic coast to the Missouri Valley, and from Florida and Texas to the fur regions nearly or quite to the 56th parallel. It was found breeding near Lake Winnepeg by Donald Gunn. It was also observed in these regions by Sir John Richardson. It was met with by Captain Blakiston on the forks of the Saskatchewan, but not farther west.

The entire family to which this Jay belongs, and of which it is a very conspicuous member, is nearly cosmopolitan as to distribution, and is distinguished by the remarkable intelligence of all its members. Its habits are striking, peculiar, and full of interest, often evincing sagacity, forethought, and intelligence strongly akin to reason. These traits belong not exclusively to any one species or generic subdivision, but are common to the whole family.

When first met with in the wild and unexplored regions of our country, the Jay appears shy and suspicious of the intruder, man. Yet, curious to a remarkable degree, he follows the stranger, watches all his movements, hovers with great pertinacity about his steps, ever keeping at a respectful distance, even before he has been taught to beware of the deadly gun. Afterwards, as he becomes better acquainted with man, the Jay conforms his own conduct to the treatment he receives. Where he is hunted in wanton sport, because of brilliant plumage, or persecuted because of unjust prejudices and a bad reputation not deserved, he is shy and wary, shuns, as much as possible, human society, and, when the hunter intrudes into his retreat, seems to delight to follow and annoy him, and to give the alarm to all dwellers of the woods that their foe is approaching.

In parts of the country, as in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and other Western States, where the Jay is unmolested and exempt from persecution, we find him as familiar and confiding as any of the favored birds of the Eastern States. In the groves of Iowa Mr. Allen found our Blue Jay nearly as unsuspicious as a Black-capped Titmouse. In Illinois he speaks of them as very abundant and half domestic. And again, in Indiana, in one of the

principal streets of Richmond, the same gentleman found the nest of these birds in a lilac-bush, under the window of a dwelling. In the summer of 1843 I saw a nest of the Jay, filled with young, in a tree standing near the house of Mr. Audubon, in the city of New York. The habits of no two species can well be more unlike than are those which persecution on the one hand and kind treatment on the other have developed in this bird.

The Blue Jay, wherever found, is more or less resident. This is especially the case in the more southern portions of its area of reproduction. In Texas, Dr. Lincecum informs us, this Jay remains both summer and winter. It is there said to build its nest of mud, a material rarely if ever used in more northern localities; and when placed not far from dwelling-houses, it is lined with cotton thread, rags of calico, and the like. They are, he writes, very intelligent and sensible birds, subsisting on insects, acorns, etc. He has occasionally known them to destroy bats. In Texas they seem to seek the protection of man, and to nest near dwellings as a means of safety against Hawks. They nest but once a year, and lay but four eggs. In a female dissected by him, he detected one hundred and twelve ova, and from these data he infers that the natural life of a Jay is about thirty years.

Mr. Allen mentions finding the Blue Jay in Kansas equally at home, and as vivacious and even more gayly colored than at the North. While it seemed to have forgotten none of the droll notes and fantastic ways always to be expected from it, there was added to its manners that familiarity which characterizes it in the more newly settled portions of the country, occasionally surprising one with some new expression of feeling or sentiment, or some unexpected eccentricity in its varied notes, perhaps developed by the more southern surroundings.

The Blue Jay is arboreal in its habits. It prefers the shelter and security of thick covers to more open ground. It is omnivorous, eating either animal or vegetable food, though with an apparent preference for the former, feeding upon insects, their eggs and larvæ, and worms, wherever procurable. It also lays up large stores of acorns and beech mast for food in winter, when insects cannot be procured in sufficient abundance. Even at this season it hunts for and devours in large quantities the eggs of the destructive tent caterpillar.

The Jay is charged with a propensity to destroy the eggs and young of the smaller birds, and has even been accused of killing full-grown birds. I am not able to verify these charges, but they seem to be too generally conceded to be disputed. These are the only serious grounds of complaint that can be brought against it, and are more than outweighed, tenfold, by the immense services it renders to man in the destruction of his enemies. Its depredations on the garden or the farm are too trivial to be mentioned.

The Blue Jay is conspicuous as a musician. He exhibits a variety in his notes, and occasionally a beauty and a harmony in his song, for which few give him due credit. Wilson compares his position among our singing birds

to that of the trumpeter in the band. His notes he varies to an almost infinite extent, at one time screaming with all his might, at another warbling with all the softness of tone and moderation of the Bluebird, and again imparting to his voice a grating harshness that is indescribable.

The power of mimicry possessed by the Jay, though different from, is hardly surpassed by that of the Mocking-Bird. It especially delights to imitate the cries of the Sparrow Hawk, and at other times those of the Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks are given with such similarity that the small birds fly to a covert, and the inmates of the poultry-yard are in the greatest alarm. Dr. Jared P. Kirtland, of Cleveland, on whose grounds a large colony of Jays took up their abode and became very familiar, has given me a very interesting account of their habits. The following is an extract: “They soon became so familiar as to feed about our yards and corn-cribs. At the dawn of every pleasant day throughout the year, the nesting-season excepted, a stranger in my house might well suppose that all the axles in the country were screeching aloud for lubrication, hearing the harsh and discordant utterances of these birds. During the day the poultry might be frequently seen running into their hiding-places, and the gobbler with his upturned eye searching the heavens for the enemy, all excited and alarmed by the mimic utterances of the adapt ventriloquists, the Jays, simulating the cries of the Red-shouldered and the Red-tailed Hawks. The domestic circle of the barn-yard evidently never gained any insight into the deception by experience; for, though the trick was repeated every few hours, the excitement would always be re-enacted.”

When reared from the nest, these birds become very tame, and are perfectly reconciled to confinement. They very soon grow into amusing pets, learning to imitate the human voice, and to simulate almost every sound that they hear. Wilson gives an account of one that had been brought up in a family of a gentleman in South Carolina that displayed great intelligence, and had all the loquacity of a parrot. This bird could utter several words with great distinctness, and, whenever called, would immediately answer to its name with great sociability.

The late Dr. Esteep, of Canton, Ohio, an experienced bird-fancier, assured Dr. Kirtland that he has invariably found the Blue Jay more ingenious, cunning, and teachable than any other species of bird he has ever attempted to instruct.

PLATE XXXIX.

1. Cyanura stelleri. ♂ Oregon, 46040.

2. Cyanura stelleri. var. frontalis. ♂ Sierra Nevada, 53639.

3. Cyanura macrolopha. ♂ Ariz., 41015.

4. Cyanura coronata. ♂ Xalapa, 16313.

Dr. Kirtland has also informed me of the almost invaluable services rendered to the farmers in his neighborhood, by the Blue Jays, in the destruction of caterpillars. When he first settled on his farm, he found every apple and wild-cherry tree in the vicinity extensively disfigured and denuded of its leaves by the larvæ of the Clisiocampa americana, or the tent caterpillar. The evil was so extensive that even the best farmers despaired of counteracting it. Not long after the Jays colonized upon his place he found they were feeding their young quite extensively with these larvæ, and so

thoroughly that two or three years afterwards not a worm was to be seen in that neighborhood; and more recently he has searched for it in vain, in order to rear cabinet specimens of the moth.

The Jay builds a strong coarse nest in the branch of some forest or orchard tree, or even in a low bush. It is formed of twigs rudely but strongly interwoven, and is lined with dark fibrous roots. The eggs are usually five, and rarely six in number.

The eggs of this species are usually of a rounded-oval shape, obtuse, and of very equal size at either end. Their ground-color is a brownish-olive, varying in depth, and occasionally an olive-drab. They are sparingly spotted with darker olive-brown. In size they vary from 1.05 to 1.20 inches in length, and in breadth from .82 to .88 of an inch. Their average size is about 1.15 by .86 of an inch.

Cyanura stelleri, Swainson.

STELLER’S JAY.

Corvus stelleri, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 370.—Lath. Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 158.—Pallas, Zoog. Rosso-As. I, 1811, 393.—Bonap. Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827, 49.—Ib. Suppl. Syn. 1828, 433.—Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 453, pl. ccclxii. Garrulus stelleri, Vieillot, Dict. XII, 1817, 481.—Bonap. Am. Orn. II, 1828, 44, pl. xiii.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 229.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 154.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 107, pl. ccxxx (not of Swainson, F. Bor.-Am.?). Cyanurus stelleri, Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 495, App. Pica stelleri, Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827, Pica, No. 10. Cyanocorax stelleri, Bon. List, 1838. Finsch, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 40 (Alaska). Cyanocitta stelleri, Cab. Mus. Hein. 1851, 221. Newberry, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 85. Cyanogarrulus stelleri, Bonap. Conspectus, 1850, 377. Steller’s Crow, Pennant, Arctic Zoöl. II, Sp. 139. Lath. Syn. I, 387. Cyanura s. Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 581 (in part). Lord, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 122 (British Columbia; nest).—Dall & Bannister, Trans. Chicago Acad. I, 1869, 486 (Alaska).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 298 (in part).

Sp. Char. Crest about one third longer than the bill. Fifth quill longest; second about equal to the secondary quills. Tail graduated; lateral feathers about .70 of an inch shortest. Head and neck all round, and forepart of breast, dark brownish-black. Back and lesser wing-coverts blackish-brown, the scapulars glossed with blue. Under parts, rump, tail-coverts, and wings greenish-blue; exposed surfaces of lesser quills dark indigo-blue; tertials and ends of tail-feathers rather obsoletely banded with black. Feathers of the forehead streaked with greenish-blue. Length, about 13.00; wing, 5.85; tail, 5.85; tarsus, 1.75 (1,921).

Hab. Pacific coast of North America, from the Columbia River to Sitka; east to St. Mary’s Mission, Rocky Mountains.

Habits. Dr. Suckley regarded Steller’s Jay as probably the most abundant bird of its size in all the wooded country between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. He describes it as tame, loquacious, and possessed of the most impudent curiosity. It is a hardy, tough bird, and a constant winter resident of Washington Territory. It is remarkable for its varied cries and

notes, and seems to have one for every emotion or pursuit in which it is engaged. It also has a great fondness for imitating the notes of other birds. Dr. Suckley states that frequently when pleasantly excited by the hope of obtaining a rare bird, in consequence of hearing an unknown note issuing from some clump of bushes or thicket, he has been not a little disappointed by finding that it had issued from this Jay. It mimics accurately the principal cry of the Catbird.

Dr. Cooper also found it very common in all the forests on both sides of the Cascade Mountains. While it seemed to depend chiefly upon the forest for its food, in the winter it would make visits to the vicinity of houses, and steal anything eatable it could find within its reach, even potatoes. In these forages upon the gardens and farm-yards, they are both silent and watchful, evidently conscious of the peril of their undertaking, and when discovered they instantly fly off to the concealment of the forests. They also make visits to the Indian lodges when the owners are absent, and force their way into them if possible, one of their number keeping watch. In the forest they do not appear to be shy or timid, but boldly follow those who intrude upon their domain, screaming, and calling their companions around them. Hazel-nuts are one of their great articles of winter food; and Dr. Cooper states that, in order to break the shell, the Jay resorts to the ingenious expedient of taking them to a branch of a tree, fixing them in a crotch or cavity, and hammering them with its bill until it can reach the meat within. Their nest he describes as large, loosely built of sticks, and placed in a bush or low tree.

At certain seasons of the year its food consisted almost entirely of the seeds of the pine, particularly of P. brachyptera, which Dr. Newberry states he has often seen them extracting from the cones, and with which the stomachs of those he killed were usually filled. He found these birds ranging as far north as the line of the British Territory, and from the coast to the Rocky Mountains.

In his Western journey Mr. Nuttall met with these birds in the Blue Mountains of the Oregon, east of Walla-walla. There he found them scarce and shy. Afterwards he found them abundant in the pine forests of the Columbia, where their loud trumpeting clangor was heard at all hours of the day, calling out with a loud voice, djay-djay, or chattering with a variety of other notes, some of them similar to those of the common Blue Jay. They are more bold and familiar than our Jay. Watchful as a dog, no sooner does a stranger show himself in their vicinity than they neglect all other employment to come round him, following and sometimes scolding at him with great pertinacity and signs of irritability. At other times, stimulated by curiosity, they follow for a while in perfect silence, until something seems to arouse their ire, and then their vociferous cries are poured out with unceasing volubility till the intruder has passed from their view.

In the month of May, Mr. Nuttall found a nest of these birds in a small

sapling of the Douglas fir, on the borders of a dense forest, and, some time after, a second nest with young, in an elevated branch of another fir, on the border of a rocky cliff. The first nest contained four eggs, of a pale green, marked with small olive-brown spots, varied with others inclining to a violet hue. The parents flew at him with the utmost anger and agitation, almost deafening him with their cries; and although he took only two of their eggs, the next day he found they had forsaken their nest. This nest was bulky, made of interlaced twigs and roots, with a stout layer of mud, and lined with black rootlets. One of the eggs taken by Mr. Nuttall is in my cabinet, and is as he describes it, except that the obscure markings of violet have nearly faded out. It measures 1.20 inches in length, and .90 in breadth, is oval in shape, and a little more obtuse at one end than at the other.

This Jay was obtained by Steller at Nootka, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, in latitude 50°. It was also found in abundance by Mr. Dall at Sitka, in British Columbia, where a number of specimens were obtained by Mr. Bischoff and by Mr. Elliot.

Mr. J. K. Lord states that this Jay ever makes its presence known by the constant utterance of discordant screams. It is continually hopping from bough to bough, darting down to catch an insect, performing short, erratic flights, and jerking up and down its crest of bright feathers. Its noisy song seems to be everywhere. It is the embodiment of restlessness, and, by dint of sheer impudence, attracts attention even from the hunter. He adds that it seemed fond of frequenting the haunts of man, and is always plentiful near Indian lodges or white men’s shanties. It is by no means epicurean in taste, but readily devours anything, whether seeds or salmon, grasshoppers or venison. Its nest he found artfully concealed amidst the thick foliage of a young pine-tree. It was composed of moss, small twigs, lichens, and fir fronds, and lined with deer’s hair. The average number of eggs laid appears to be seven.

Cyanura stelleri, var. frontalis, Ridgway.

SIERRA JAY.

Cyanura stelleri, Auct. All reference to Steller’s Jay as occurring in California, excepting on the northern Coast Range, relate to this variety.

Sp. Char. Head, neck, and dorsal region plumbeous-umber, darker on the head, and posteriorly changing gradually into the light greenish-blue of the rest of the body; wings and tail deep indigo-blue, the tertials, secondaries, and tail conspicuously marked with broad and rather distant bars of black; primaries greenish light-blue, like the rump, abdomen, etc. Whole forehead conspicuously streaked with blue (the streaks forming two parallel series, where the feathers are not disarranged), and the crest strongly tinged with blue. ♂ (53,639, Carson City, Nevada, April 30, 1868): wing, 6.00; tail, 6.00; culmen, 1.25; depth of bill, .35; tarsus, 1.55; middle toe, .90; crest, 2.80. ♀ (53,640, Carson City, Nevada, April 30, 1868): wing, 5.70; tail, 5.50. Young with the blue of

the body and head entirely replaced by a sooty grayish; and that of the wings and tail duller, and less distinctly barred.

Hab. Whole length of the Sierra Nevada, from Fort Crook (where it approaches var. stelleri) to Fort Tejon.

In the colors of the body, wings, and tail, this well-marked race resembles C. macrolopha in every respect, except that the greater coverts are not barred with black; there being the same abrupt contrast between the deep blue of the wings and tail, and the light greenish-blue of the body, tail-coverts, and primaries,—seen only in these two forms. The variety is confined to the mountains of California and Western Nevada, extending along the Sierra Nevada about the entire length of the State, there being specimens in the collection from Fort Crook and Fort Tejon, and intermediate localities.

Habits. The Blue-fronted Jay, so far as it was observed by Mr. Ridgway, was found to be exclusively an inhabitant of the pine woods of the Sierra Nevada, and is, with Clarke’s Nutcracker, one of the most characteristic birds of that region. In its general habits and manners, it greatly resembles the eastern Blue Jay, but is rather more shy, while its notes are very different, and do not possess the variety and flexibility of the cristata, but are in comparison harsh and discordant. The usual note is a hoarse, deep-toned monosyllabic squawk. Sometimes it utters a hollow sonorous chatter.

Near Carson City one of these birds had been winged by a shot, and, in falling, alighted on the lower branches of a pine-tree. Upon an attempt to capture it, the bird began to ascend the tree limb by limb, at the same time uttering a perfect imitation of the cry of the Red-tailed Hawk, evidently in the hope of frightening away his tormentors. Dr. Newberry regards this Jay as the western counterpart of the C. cristata. By its more conspicuous crest, its bold, defiant air, and its excessively harsh and disagreeable cry, it challenges and secures attention. He found it almost exclusively confined to the hilly and mountainous districts, choosing in preference those covered with pines.

Dr. Heermann found these Jays abundant and resident as far south as Warner’s Ranch, where, though common, they were for some reason so unusually wild and vigilant as not to be easily procurable. In feeding, he observed that they seemed always to begin in the lower branches and ascend, hopping from twig to twig, to the topmost point, and, while thus employed, utter a harsh screaming note that can be heard to a considerable distance.

This species, Dr. Cooper states, is numerous in the mountains of California, inhabiting the whole length of the Sierra Nevada, and the Coast Range as far south, at least, as Santa Cruz. Though showing a decided preference for the pine forests, they sometimes in winter frequent those of oaks. They are omnivorous, eating seeds, acorns, nuts, insects, and in winter even potatoes and dead fish. They are at times bold and prying, and at others very cautious and suspicious. They soon learn to appreciate a gun,

and show great sagacity in their movements to avoid its peril. On the Columbia they lay in May, and in California about a month earlier.

Cyanura stelleri, var. macrolopha, Baird.

LONG-CRESTED JAY.

Cyanocitta macrolopha, Baird, Pr. A. N. Sc.Phila. VII, June, 1854, 118 (Albuquerque). ? Garrulus stelleri, Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 294, pl. liv (head-waters of Columbia; figure of a bird intermediate between C. stelleri and macrolopha). Cyanura macrolopha, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 582.—Elliot, Illust. Am. B, I, xvii.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 300.

Sp. Char. Crest nearly twice the length of the bill. Tail moderately graduated; the lateral feathers about .60 of an inch shorter than the middle. Fourth and fifth quills longest; second shorter than the secondaries. Head all round, throat, and forepart of the breast, black, the crest with a gloss of blue; rest of back dark ashy-brown with a gloss of greenish. Under parts, rump, tail-coverts, and outer surfaces of primaries, greenish-blue; greater coverts, secondaries, and tertials, and upper surface of tail-feathers bright blue, banded with black; forehead streaked with opaque white, passing behind into pale blue; a white patch over the eye. Chin grayish. Length, 12.50; wing, 5.85; tail, 5.85; tarsus, 1.70 (8,351).

Hab. Central line of Rocky Mountains from northern border of the United States to table-lands of Mexico; Fort Whipple, Arizona.

Young birds have the bright blue of body and black of head replaced by a dull slate; the head unvaried.

An apparent link between this variety and C. stelleri is represented in the Smithsonian collection by three specimens from the region towards the head-waters of the Columbia, where the respective areas of distribution of the two overlap. In this the anterior parts of the body are nearly as black as in stelleri (much darker than macrolopha), with the short crest; but the forehead (except in one specimen) is streaked with blue, and there is a white patch over the eye. As in stelleri, there are no black bars on the greater wing-coverts. As this is an abundant form, whether permanent race or hybrid, it may be called var. annectens.

Habits. The Long-crested Jay appears to occur throughout the central range of the Rocky Mountains from British Columbia to Mexico, where it is replaced by a closely allied species or race, the Cyanura coronata of Swainson.

Mr. Ridgway met with this Jay only among the Wahsatch and the Uintah Mountains. They appeared to be rather common in those regions, though far from being abundant. In their manners and in their notes they are described as having been almost an exact counterpart of the Sierra Nevada form. Their notes, however, are said to be not so loud nor so coarse as those of the more western species. A nest, found by Mr. Ridgway, June 25, 1869, in Parley’s Park, Wahsatch Mountains, was in a small

fir-tree on the edge of a wood. It was saddled on a horizontal branch about fifteen feet from the ground, and contained six eggs. The base of the nest was composed of coarse strong sticks, rudely put together. Upon this was constructed a solid, firm plastering of mud of a uniform concave shape, lined with fine wiry roots. The external diameter is about nine inches, and the height of the nest four. The interior is five inches in diameter, and three in depth.

The species was first described by Professor Baird, from specimens obtained by Dr. Kennerly, who writes that he first saw this bird among the lofty pines of the Sierra Madre in November, 1853. Leaving that range, he did not meet with it again until his party crossed the Aztec Mountains, in January, 1854, where it was less abundant than when first met with. It was, for the most part, found among the cedars on the high grounds, though occasionally seen among the clumps of large pines that were scattered along the valley. The party did not meet with it again.

Dr. Coues found this species a common and a resident bird in Arizona. It was observed to be almost exclusively an inhabitant of pine woods, and was generally to be met with only in small companies, never congregating in the manner of Woodhouse’s Jay. He describes it as very shy, vigilant, noisy, and tyrannical.

The eggs of C. macrolopha measure 1.30 inches in length and .91 in breadth. Their ground-color is a light sea-green. They are somewhat sparingly spotted with fine markings of dark olive-brown, and lighter cloudings of a purplish or violet brown. They are oblong oval in shape, obtuse at either end, but more tapering at one end. They appear to be a little larger than the eggs of stelleri, and the ground-color is brighter, and the markings deeper and more of an olive hue.

Genus CYANOCITTA, Strickland.

Cyanocitta, Strickland, Annals and Mag. N. H. XV, 1845, 260. (Type, Garrulus californicus, Vigors.)

Aphelocoma, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 221. (Same type.)

Char. Head without crest. Wings and tail blue, without any bands. Back usually with a gray patch, different from the head. Bill about as broad as high at the base, and the culmen a little shorter than the head. Nostrils large, nearly circular, and concealed. Tail nearly equal to the wings, lengthened, graduated, or else shorter and nearly even.

This genus is readily distinguished from the preceding by the entire absence of crest and of black bars on the blue of wings and tail. The species and races hitherto described will be found detailed in the accompanying synopsis. The characters indicated above are of no very great generic value, but as the group is a very natural one it will be as well to retain it. As in Cyanura, the species are peculiar to the United States and Mexico, one indeed being apparently confined to the Peninsula of Florida.

Cyanocitta californica.
8455

It would perhaps be not very far out of the way to consider Sections A and B as representing in their general characters, respectively, the types from which their subdivisions have sprung.

A. Tail longer than wings. A superciliary stripe of whitish streaks; jugular and pectoral feathers faintly edged with bluish, posteriorly forming an indistinct collar, interrupted medially. Ear-coverts dusky, except in var. woodhousei.

a. Forehead and nasal tufts hoary white; the superciliary stripe a continuous wash of the same. Scapulars blue like the wings; dorsal region (the interscapulars) as light-colored as the lower parts.

C. floridana. Back and lower parts pale ashy-brown; lower tail-coverts bright blue. Wing, 4.50; tail, 5.70; bill, 1.20 and .35; tarsus, 1.40; middle toe, .85. Wing-formula, 4, 5, 6, 7, 3, 8, 9, 2, 10; first, 1.80 shorter than longest. Graduation of tail, 1.50. Hab. Florida (only).

b. Forehead and nasal tufts bright blue; superciliary stripe composed of narrow streaks; scapulars ashy like the back; back much darker than the lower parts.

C. californica.

Lower tail-coverts bright blue, dorsal region not well-defined ashy; auriculars bluish, beneath continuous pure ash. Superciliary streak well defined. Wing, 5.15; tail, 6.00; bill, 1.35 and .30; tarsus, 1.40; middle toe, .85. Wing-formula, fourth, fifth, and sixth equal; 7, 3, 8, 9 = 2; first, 1.80 shorter than longest. Graduation of tail, .90. Hab. Rocky Mountains and Middle Province of United States … var. woodhousei.

Lower tail-coverts pure white; dorsal region well-defined ashy; auriculars blackish; beneath dull white, approaching ash on breast. Superciliary streak indistinct. Wing, 5.65; tail, 6.00; bill, 1.20 and .35; tarsus, 1.42; middle toe, .90. Wing-formula, 5, 6, 7, 4, 8, 3, 9, 10 = 2; first, 2.20 shorter than longest. Graduation of tail, .80. Hab. Mexico (Orizaba; City of Mexico) … var. sumichrasti.[58]

Superciliary streak sharply defined, conspicuous. Wing, 5.00; tail, 5.60; bill, 1.20 and .37; tarsus, 1.55; middle toe, .95. Wing-formula, 4, 5, 6, 7, 3, 8, 9, 2, 10; first, 2.10 shorter than longest. Graduation of tail, 1.15. Hab. Pacific Province of United States; Cape St. Lucas … var. californica.

B. Tail not longer than wings, or considerably shorter. No superciliary stripe, and no streaks on throat or jugulum. Auriculars blue like the crown.

C. ultramarina. Lower parts whitish, conspicuously different from the upper.

Tail nearly, or perfectly even.

Length, 13.00; tail even; bill, 1.50; tail, 7.00. Hab. Mexico … var. ultramarina.[59]

Length, 11.50; tail very slightly rounded (graduation, .25 only); bill, 1.28 and .35; tail, 50. Above bright blue, dorsal region obscured slightly with ashy; beneath dull pale ash, becoming gradually whitish posteriorly, the crissum being pure ash. Lores blue. Tarsus, 1.45; middle toe, .95. Wing-formula, 5, 4 = 6, 7, 3, 8, 9, 10, 2; first, 2.10 shorter than longest. Graduation of tail, .25. Hab. Lower Rio Grande … var. couchi.

Tail considerably rounded.

Colors as in couchi, but dorsal region scarcely obscured by ashy. Lores black. Wing, 7.50; tail, 7.50; bill, 1.30 and .40; tarsus, 1.60; middle toe, .90. Wing-formula, 5, 4, 6, 3 = 7, 8, 9, 2; first, 2.75, shorter than longest. Graduation of tail, 1.15. Hab. Mexico (Orizaba, Mirador, etc.) … var. sordida.[60]

Graduation of the colors as in sordida, but the blue, instead of being a bright ultramarine, is very much paler and duller, and with a greenish cast, the whole dorsal region decidedly ashy; ash of the pectoral region much paler, and throat similar, instead of decidedly whitish, in contrast; pure white of posterior lower parts covering whole abdomen instead of being confined to crissum. Wing, 6.20; tail, 5.70; bill, 1.30 and .40; tarsus, 1.50; middle toe, .97. Wing-formula, fourth, fifth, and sixth equal; 7, 3, 8, 9, 2; first, 2.20, shorter than longest. Graduation of tail, .50. Hab. Southern Rocky Mountains (Fort Buchanan, and Copper Mines, Arizona) … var. arizonæ.

C. unicolor.[61] Lower parts bright blue, like the upper. Entirely

uniform rich ultramarine-blue; lores black. Wing, 6.70; tail, 6.70; bill, 1.30 and .50; tarsus, 1.45; middle toe, .95. Wing-formula, 5, 6, 4, 7, 3, 8, 9, 2; first, 2.60 shorter than longest. Graduation of tail, 1.50. Hab. Southern Mexico (Cordova, Mirador, etc.); Guatemala.

In the first section of this group we see the same indication of variation from a common type with the region that is so evident in Cyanura. Thus, Cyanocitta woodhousei differs from californica, much as Cyanura macrolopha does from C. stelleri (var. frontalis), in more slender bill and a greater percentage of blue; this invading the back and under parts, the lower tail-coverts especially. But here the parallel of modification ends, for the Mexican representative of the species (C. sumichrasti) appears to revert back to the characters of californica, having like it a minimum amount of blue, though this almost obliterates the superciliary stripe of white. In this respect there is more resemblance to the case of Pipilo fusca and its three races in the three regions inhabited by these representative forms of Cyanocitta californica; for, while the Mexican (P. fusca) and Californian (P. crissalis) are very much alike, the one from the intervening region (P. mesoleuca) is more different from the two extreme races than they are from each other.

In the other section of the genus the relation between arizonæ and sordida is a parallel to that between Cyanura macrolopha and C. coronata; the southern forms (sordida and coronata) differing principally in the greater intensity and prevalence or amount of the blue. The relations of couchi and ultramarina to the two above mentioned are yet obscure, owing to the small material at command,—there being only two specimens of the former, and none of the latter, in the National Museum at Washington.

Cyanocitta floridana, Bonap.

FLORIDA JAY.

Corvus floridanus, Bartram, Travels, 1791, 291.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 444, pl. lxxxvii. Garrulus floridanus, Bon. Am. Orn. II, 1828, 11, pl. xi.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 230.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 154.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 118, pl. ccxxxiii. Cyanurus floridanus, Swainson, F. B. A. II, 1831, 495. Cyanocorax floridanus, Bon. List, 1838. Cyanocitta floridana, Bon. Consp. 1850, 377.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 586.—Allen, B. E. Fla. 298. Aphelocoma floridana, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 22. Garrulus cyaneus, Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. XII, 1817, 476 (not described). ? Garrulus cærulescens, Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. XII, 1817, 480.—Ord. J. A. N. Sc. I, 1818, 347. Pica cærulescens, Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827, Pica, No. 11.

Sp. Char. Tail much graduated; lateral feathers nearly 1.50 inches shortest. Tail an inch longer than the wings. Above blue, including scapulars; interscapular region and back brownish-ash, the former lighter. Forehead and sides of the crown, including the nasal feathers, hoary white. Sides of head and neck blue; the former tinged with blackish, the latter sending a streaked collar of the same entirely across the breast; region anterior to this collar dirty white, streaked on the edges of the feathers with blue; rest

of under parts dirty whitish-brown; under tail-coverts blue, the tibia tinged with the same. Length, 11.00; wing, 4.50; tail, 5.70; tarsus, 1.45.

Hab. Florida only, and quite local.

Habits. This beautiful species appears to be exclusively confined to the peninsula of Florida, and there is no authentic evidence that it has ever been found outside of the limits of that State. The statement of Bonaparte, that these birds are found in the States of Louisiana and Kentucky, has never been confirmed, and Mr. Audubon, who was for many years a resident of both States and familiar with the birds of each, was very positive the statement was without foundation. It has never been observed even in Georgia or Alabama, and Mr. Nuttall states that it is not found in any part of West Florida.

Mr. Allen, in his recent paper on the winter birds of East Florida, speaking of this species, states that it is numerous in the scrub, but does not appear to frequent the pine woods, the hummocks, or the swamps. He saw none along the St. John’s, except at Blue Springs, but they occur in numbers a few miles back from the river.

Dr. Bryant, in his Notes on the birds of Florida, mentions that this species is tolerably plentiful in the vicinity of Enterprise. He regarded it as exceedingly interesting on account of its limited geographical distribution. With no apparent obstacle to its movements, it is yet confined to a small part of the peninsula of Florida, its area of distribution north and south not exceeding three degrees of latitude, if so much. He saw none north of St. Augustine, and none south of Jupiter’s Inlet. So far as he observed them, they were exclusively confined to the growth of scrub-oak, which in many places is so entangled with creeping plants that it is impossible to walk through without cutting a path. This growth is generally found on elevated ridges running parallel to the sea-coast. The most extensive of these, near Enterprise, is about three miles wide, and eighty feet above the lake.

The flight of this species is said by Mr. Audubon to be performed at a short distance from the ground, and to consist either of a single sailing sweep, as it passes from one tree to another, or of continuous flappings with a slightly undulating motion, in the manner of the Canada Jay. Its notes are described as softer than those of the Blue Jay, and more frequently uttered. Its motions are also quicker and more abrupt. Its food is said to consist of snails, which it collects on the ground, insects, and various kinds of fruits and berries. It is also charged with being very destructive of eggs and young birds.

The Florida Jay is said to be easily kept in confinement, feeding readily on dried or fresh fruit and the kernels of various nuts, and soon appears to be reconciled to its loss of liberty. It secures its food between its feet, and breaks it into pieces before swallowing it. In this way it feeds on the acorn of the live-oak, snails, and the seeds of the sword-palmetto.

The nest of this Jay is formed of dry sticks, placed across each other, and, although rounded in form, is so lightly made that the birds may be seen through its interstices. It is lined with fibrous rootlets. Only one brood is raised in a season. Audubon’s descriptions of its eggs are inaccurate, and only applicable to those of the Blue Jay.

Mr. Audubon observed a pair of these birds in confinement in New Orleans. They were fed upon rice and dry fruit. At dessert they were allowed their liberty, when they would fly to the table, feed on the almonds given them, and drink claret diluted with water. They attempted to mimic various sounds, but did so very imperfectly.

Mr. Nuttall states that at the approach of winter these birds retire to the south of St. Augustine. He regards their voice as less harsh than that of the Blue Jay, and states that they have a variety of notes, some of which are probably imitations, and are said to resemble the song of the Wood Thrush and the calls of the common Jay.

An egg of the Florida Jay before me is of a rounded oval shape, being nearly equally obtuse at either end. The ground-color is a light bluish-gray, marked almost exclusively at the larger end with a few small spots of a light rufous-brown. It has no near resemblance to the eggs of the California Jay, nor to those of any other Jay that I have seen. It measures 1.05 inches by .80.

In its flight and action, Dr. Bryant thought the Florida Jay resembled the Mocking-Bird. It has none of the restless, suspicious manner of the Blue Jay. He never heard it utter more than a single note, this being much softer than the usual cry of the Blue Jay; its song he regarded as rather monotonous. It seldom flies more than a short distance at a time, and seems to trust for protection to the difficulty of access to its abode. It also evinces a great partiality for particular localities. Generally only a single pair is seen at a time, though in one place he has seen three pairs together. It is not fond of civilization, and is seldom known to frequent the vicinity of dwellings.

A nest found by Dr. Bryant on the 15th of April was built in a scrub-oak about three feet from the ground. It was made of small twigs, compactly and carefully lined with fibres of the dwarf palmetto, that had apparently been brought a distance of half a mile. The cavity measured about five inches in breadth and one and a half in depth. The nest contained three eggs of a light blue, sparingly sprinkled with rufous, the spots being larger and more numerous towards the larger end. Another nest, found a few days later, contained five eggs of a more neutral tint, with the spots darker, larger, and more evenly distributed.

Cyanocitta californica, Strickland.

CALIFORNIA JAY.

Garrulus californicus, Vigors, Zoöl. Beechey’s Voyage, 1839, 21, pl. v. Cyanocitta californica, Strickland, Ann. Mag. XV, 1845, 342.—Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. 2d series, I, Dec. 1847, 45.—Bon. Conspectus, 1850, 377.—Newberry, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 85.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 584.—Heerm. X, S, 55.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 302. Cyanocorax californicus, Gambel, Pr. A. N. Sc. III, Ap. 1847, 201. Aphelocoma californica, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 221.—Bon. Comptes Rendus, XXXVII, Nov. 1853, 828; Notes Orn. Delattre. Corvus ultramarinus, Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 456, pl. ccclxii (not Garrulus ultramarinus, Bon.). Garrulus ultramarinus, Aud. Syn. 1839, 154.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 115, pl. ccxxxii (not of Bonaparte). Cyanocitta superciliosa, Strickland, Ann. Mag. XV, 1845, 260 (type of genus Cyanocitta). “Corvus palliatus, Drapiez,” Bonap.

Sp. Char. Width of bill at base of lower mandible rather more than half the length of culmen. Lateral tail-feathers about an inch the shortest. Tail an inch longer than the wings. General color above, including the surface of the wings, bright blue, without bars. The whole back, including to some extent the scapulars, brownish-ash, very faintly glossed with blue in the adult. À streaked white superciliary line from a little anterior to the eye as far as the occiput. Sides of the head and neck blue, the region around and behind the eye, including lores and most of ear-coverts, black. The blue of the sides of the neck extends across the forepart of the breast, forming a crescent, interrupted in the middle. The under parts anterior to the crescent white, the feathers edged with blue; behind it dull white; the sides tinged with brown. Length, 12.25; wing, 5.00; tail, 6.15; tarsus, 1.55. (No. 2,841.)

Hab. Pacific Province from Columbia River to Cape St. Lucas; Carson City, Nevada (Ridgway).

Cyanocitta californica.

Specimens from Cape St. Lucas are rather smaller and perhaps whiter beneath than elsewhere; those from the eastern slope of Sierra Nevada are very large. Upon a careful comparison, we find that the supposed specimens of C. californica in the Smithsonian collection from Mexico (Orizaba, etc.) constitute a quite different form, characterized by very indistinct superciliary white and bluish edges to throat and jugular feathers, and especially by the lengthened wings, which average 5.75 inches instead of 5.00. In general respects the resemblance, as suggested by Sclater, is to californica, and not to woodhousei. The dorsal patch is very distinct.

PLATE XL.

1. Cyanocitta californica. ♂ Nev., 56642.

2. Cyanocitta californica. var. sumichrasti. ♂ Orizaba, 42129.

3. Cyanocitta woodhousii. ♂ Nev., 53647.

4. Cyanocitta floridana. ♂ Fla., 13734.

One Mexican specimen (8,465 from Real del Monte?), presented by Mr.

John Gould, differs again in having the dorsal patch obscured by a bluish wash; an unusual amount of blue edging to the throat and jugular feathers, and a dull brownish tinge to the belly. It almost suggests the possibility of a hybrid form between sumichrasti and ultramarina.

Habits. The California Jay appears to be a Pacific coast species, occurring from the Columbia River southward to Cape St. Lucas, but not found in the interior at any considerable distance from the coast. Mr. Ridgway speaks of it as the Valley Jay of California, having been observed by him in abundance only among the oaks of the Sacramento Valley, the brushwood of the ravines, and the scattered pines of the foot-hills along the western base of the Sierra Nevada. It was also quite common, in April, in the vicinity of Carson City, where he found it breeding. Its notes and manners, he adds, are very similar to those of the Woodhouse Jay, belonging to the wooded regions of the interior, but the shrill cries of this species are even more piercing. There is, moreover, something in its appearance, caused by the sharp contrast of the bright blue, the light ash, and the pure white colors, by which it may be distinguished at a glance from the more uniformly colored woodhousei.

Dr. Heerman speaks of it as frequenting to some extent the same districts as Steller’s Jay, but also found in greater abundance throughout the valleys. He likewise describes it as noisy, alert, and cunning in its habits, wild and wary, and yet often seeking the habitations of man, near which to rear its young, drawn thither by the abundance of food found in such localities. Their nests, he states, are built in a thick-leaved bush, or on the lower branches of an oak, at but little height from the ground. They are constructed of twigs, and are lined with fine rootlets. The eggs, four in number, are, he says, emerald-green in color, profusely dotted with umber-brown spots.

Dr. Newberry states that he found the trees and the thickets bordering the streams in the valleys the favorite haunts of the California Jay. As his party ascended among the evergreen forests of the higher grounds, and passed northeasterly from the Sacramento Valley, these birds were no longer met with, and long before reaching the Oregon line they lost sight of it altogether. Nor did they meet with it again until their return to California. This Jay, he adds, has all the sprightliness and restlessness of the family, but is less noisy, and its notes are far more agreeable than those of Steller’s Jay, by which it is replaced at the north.

The Smithsonian Museum has a specimen of this species obtained on the Columbia by Townsend, and Mr. Nuttall mentions that early in October, on arriving at the forests of the Columbia, near Fort Vancouver, he met with it in company with Steller’s Jay. They were breeding in the dark pine woods, and by the 15th of June they were feeding their fully fledged young. He also states that they were found as far north as Fraser’s River, migrating to the south at the approach of winter. Without questioning the

correctness of this statement, it is worthy of mention that these birds have not been met there by more recent collectors, and that Dr. Newberry nowhere met with them in Oregon. Dr. Cooper suggests that, since then, the increased severity of the winters may have driven them permanently farther south.

Mr. Nuttall describes its habits as very much like those of the Blue Jay. It usually flies out to the tops of the tallest pines, jerks its tail, and perches playfully on some extreme branch, where, as if in anger, it calls woit, woit-woit, with an occasional recognition note of twee-twee. When pursued, it retreats to the shade of the loftiest branches. It feeds on insects, acorns, which it breaks up, and pine seeds. He describes it as a graceful, active, and shy bird, with a note much less harsh and loud than that of Steller’s Jay.

Dr. Cooper remarks that this species is one of the most common and conspicuous of the birds of the State of California. They frequent every locality in which oak-trees are found, even within the limits of large towns, where they enter gardens and audaciously plunder the fruit. They have all the usual cunning of their tribe, and when alarmed become very quiet, and conceal themselves in the thick foliage. They are usually noisy and fearless, and their odd cries, grotesque actions, and bright plumage make them general favorites in spite of their depredations. They are also said to have a talent for mimicry, besides notes to express their various wants and ideas.

They breed abundantly throughout the western parts of California, and construct a large and strong nest of twigs, roots, and grass. These are placed in a low tree or bush. They lay about five eggs, which Dr. Cooper describes as dark green marked with numerous pale brown blotches and spots, and measure 1.80 by 1.04 inches. At San Diego he found these eggs laid as early as April 5.

This Jay inhabits the Coast Range of mountains to their summit, south of San Francisco, and the Sierra Nevada as far as the oaks extend, or to an elevation of from 1,000 to 5,000 feet. Dr. Cooper saw none on the east side of the Sierra Nevada in latitude 39°.

He describes their flight as slow and laborious, on account of their short wings, and states that they never fly far at a time. He also accuses them of being very destructive to the eggs of smaller birds, hunting for them in the spring, and watching the movements of other birds with great attention.

Mr. Xantus found these birds very abundant at Cape St. Lucas, being, like all the other resident species there, much smaller than those occurring in more northern localities. Their habits are said to be very much the same.

This species was taken in winter near Oaxaca, Mexico, by Mr. Boucard.

Four eggs of this species from different parts of California present the following measurements: 1.20 × 0.85; 1.10 × 0.80; 1.13 × 0.80; 1.05 × 0.80. The measurements given by Dr. Cooper we are confident must be a mistake.

Their ground-color is a bright, but not a dark, emerald-green; and they are marked and blotched with faint purplish-brown, and deeper spots of dark umber. These spots are sparingly distributed, and are chiefly about the larger end. In one they are wholly of a light violet-brown. These eggs are of a perfectly oval shape.

Mr. Charles D. Gibbes, of Stockton, writes that he found in a garden in that city a nest built by a pair of these birds that had become half domesticated. It was placed in a very thick arbor of honeysuckle. The body of the nest was composed of clippings from a hedge of osage orange, with thorns on them half an inch long. These twigs were tied and interlaced with twine and bits of cotton strings. Within this frame was a layer of fine weeds and grasses nicely arranged, the whole lined with horse-hair. The nest was found in May, and contained five eggs. The parents kept a good deal about the kitchen door, and would steal anything they had an opportunity to take. They made use of an old nest in the same garden as a receptacle for their stolen goods; among other things was found a large slice of bread-and-butter.

Cyanocitta californica, var. woodhousei, Baird.

WOODHOUSE’S JAY.

Cyanocitta woodhousei, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 585, pl. lix.—Ib. Mex. B. II, Birds, 20, pl. xxi.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 304.

Sp. Char. Size and general appearance of C. californica. Bill slender. Graduation of tail one inch. Blue, with a very obscure ashy patch on the back. Sides of the head and neck and incomplete pectoral collar, blue; throat streaked with the same. Breast and belly uniform brownish-ash, glossed with blue; under tail-coverts bright blue. Sides of head, including lores, black, glossed with blue below; a streaked white superciliary line. Length, 11.50; wing, 5.35; tail, 6.10; tarsus, 1.60. Young. All the blue, except that of the wings and tail, replaced by dull ash.

Hab. Rocky Mountains and Middle Province of United States; north to Idaho and Wyoming (Ridgway); south to Northern Mexico; east to Wyoming and Colorado.

The bluish wash on the back nearly obscuring the dorsal patch, the general ashy tinge of the under parts, the decided blue under tail-coverts, and the longer and much slenderer bill, distinguish this form from californica, although probably both are geographical races of the same species.

Habits. This bird was first met with by Dr. Woodhouse among the San Francisco Mountains of New Mexico, and was given by him, in his Report of the Sitgreaves Expedition, as the California Jay. He states in regard to it, that wherever he found the piñon, or nut-pine (Pinus edulis), growing in New Mexico, this bird was sure to be there in great numbers, feeding upon the fruit of those trees. Among the men it was known as the piñon bird. Its notes are said to be harsh and disagreeable. It was extremely

restless, and was continually in motion, flying from tree to tree, uttering its well-known cries.

Mr. Ridgway calls this a very interesting species, and states that it was found very abundant in the fertile cañons of the West Humboldt Mountains, as well as in all the extensive nut-pine and cedar woods to the eastward. On the Toyaba and East Humboldt Mountains, and the extensive piñon woods in Southern Idaho, it was equally common. In Utah, in the cañons of the Wahsatch Mountains, it was occasionally seen, though oftener observed in the valley of the Weber. When unmolested, this bird is, he states, very unsuspicious, and anything unusual at once excites its curiosity. Often when at work, in camp, skinning birds, on the edge of bushes, one of them would approach within a few feet, and quietly watch every movement. At Unionsville they were quite common in the gardens and around the door-yards of the town, and were very familiar and unsuspicious. Their cries greatly resembled those of the California Jay, and consisted of a repetition of harsh screeching notes.

This species, according to Dr. Coues, is a resident and a very abundant species in Arizona, where it is one of the most characteristic species. It was found in all situations, but seemed to shun dense pine woods, and to prefer to keep on the open hillsides, among the scrub-oaks, etc. In winter it collects in rather large flocks, sometimes as many as fifty together. They are, however, usually seen in small groups of six or seven individuals. They are said to be a restless, vigilant, shy, and noisy species.

Mr. C. E. Aiken found this bird a common and resident species in Colorado. He met with it along the foot of the mountains, in brush thickets, in which they also breed. The base and periphery of a nest found by him were composed of dead twigs, intermingled within with fine rootlets and horsehair. The eggs, four or five in number, are said to be laid about the first of May. They have a ground-color of a light bluish-green, and marked with reddish-brown specks, thickest at the larger end. They are of a rounded oval shape, much more pointed at one end, and rounded at the other, and average 1.06 inches in length by .80 of an inch in breadth.

Cyanocitta ultramarina, var. arizonæ, Ridgway.

Cyanocitta sordida (not of Swains.!), Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 587, pl. lx. f. 1.—Ib. Mex. B. II, Birds, 21, pl. xxii, f. 1.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 305. Cyanocitta sordida var. arizonæ, Ridgway, Rep. U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par.

PLATE XLI.

1. Cyanocitta sordida. Orizaba, 38209.

2. Cyanocitta sordida. var. arizonæ. ♂ Ariz., 18279.

3. Perisoreus canadensis. ♂ Nova Scotia, 26940.

4. Perisoreus canadensis. var. capitalis. ♂ Colorado, 51642.

Sp. Char. Bill short, thick; half as high as long. Wing considerably longer than the tail, which is slightly graduated (.50 of an inch). Upper surface (including whole side of head to the throat) light sky-blue, the whole dorsal region inclining to pure bluish-ashy. Beneath fine, uniform, pale ash for anterior half (including the throat), this gradually fading into white on the posterior portions (including whole abdomen), the

lower tail-coverts being pure white. Lores blue. Length, 13.00; wing, 6.20; tail, 5.70; culmen, 1.30; depth of bill, .40; tarsus, 1.50; middle toe, .97. Fourth, fifth, and sixth quills equal and longest, second shorter than ninth; first 2.20 shorter than longest. (18,279, Fort Buchanan, Arizona, December; Dr. Irwin.) Immature (8,469 ♂, Copper Mines, Arizona). The blue, except that of the wings and tail, replaced by dull ash; the blue feathers appearing in scattered patches.

Hab. Arizona (Copper Mines, J. H. Clark; and Fort Buchanan, Dr. Irwin, U. S. A.).

The nearest ally of this race is the var. sordida of Mexico, which, however, differs in many important respects; the differences between the two being giving in the synopsis (page 880), it is unnecessary to repeat them here. In both there is a tendency towards a party-colored bill; each example of the northern style, and most of those of the southern, having more or less whitish on the lower mandible.

Nothing definite is known as to the habits or reproduction of this bird.

Cyanocitta ultramarina, var. couchi, Baird.

ULTRAMARINE JAY.

Garrulus ultramarinus, Bonap. J. A. N. Sc. IV, 1825, 386 (not of Audubon).—Temm. Pl. Col. II, 439. Cyanocitta ultramarina, Strickland, Ann. & Mag. XV, 1845, 260.—Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. 2d Ser. I, 1847, 45.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 588, pl. 60, f. 2.—Ib. Mex. B. II, Birds 21, pl. xxii. Cyanogarrulus ultramarinus, Bon. Consp. 1850, 378. Cyanocitta couchi, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 588.

Sp. Char. Tail rounded, but little graduated; lateral feather about a quarter of an inch shortest. Wings longer than the tail; when closed, reaching nearly to its middle. Above and on sides of head and neck bright blue; the lores blackish; the middle of the back slightly duller, the tips of some of the feathers dark brown. Beneath brownish-ash, paler on the chin and towards the anal region, which, with the crissum, is white. No trace of white or black on the sides of the head, nor of any streaks or collar on the breast. Length, (fresh,) 11.50; wing, 6.00; tail, (dried,) 5.40; tarsus, 1.50.

Hab. South side of valley of Rio Grande, near the coast, and southward.

This well-marked species is quite different in form from the C. californica, having a shorter, more even tail, much longer wings, and stouter feet. The absence of any collar or streaks on the breast and throat, of black or white on the side of the head, and of decided ash on the back, are very well marked features. There is also much more green in the blue of the head.

As suggested in the P. R. R. Report, the birds collected by Lieutenant Couch at Monterey, Mexico, although agreeing almost exactly with the original description of Bonaparte, are much smaller, and perhaps entitled to recognition as a separate form. The tail is nearly two inches less, 5.40 instead of 7.00, or over.

Habits. The Ultramarine Jay is a well-marked species, and is specifically quite distinct from the C. californica. It is found in the valley of the Rio Grande, and thence southward and eastward in the northern provinces of

Mexico. Though we know of no specimens having been procured on this side of the boundary line, their occurrence is quite probable. Lieutenant Couch met with this species near Monterey, Mexico, and from thence west to Parras. He describes it as being gregarious and eminently Jay-like in its habits. They are very noisy and vociferous in their outcries, and three or four of them suffice to keep a whole forest in an uproar. Near Guyapuco a large snake (Georgia obsoleta) was seen pursued by three or four of this species. The reptile was making every effort to escape from their combined attacks, and would, no doubt, have been killed by them, had they not been interfered with. The cause of so much animosity against the snake was explained when, on opening its stomach, three young of this species, about two thirds grown, were found.

In the Department of Vera Cruz, Sumichrast found what he calls C. ultramarina in company with Cyanura coronata and Cyanocitta nana, “californica” (Sumichrasti), and sordida, occurring in the alpine region, and with the three first named restricted to that locality. The limit of their extension is about that of the alpine region, that is, from an elevation of about 4,500 feet to the height of 10,500 feet. The sordida is also found on the plateau.

Genus XANTHOURA, Bonap.

Xanthoura, Bonaparte, Consp. Av. 1850. (Type, “Corvus peruvianus, Gm.”)

Char. Head without crest. Throat black. Lateral tail-feathers bright yellow. Bill very stout, rather higher than broad; culmen curved from the base. Nostrils rather small, oval, concealed by a nasal tuft varying in length with species. Tail longer than the wings; graduated. The wings concave, rounded; the secondaries nearly as long as the primaries. Legs very stout; hind claw about half the total length of the toe.

Xanthoura luxuosa.
4052

The genus Xanthoura is composed of three so-called species, of different geographical distribution, and exhibits a progressive change from one to the other, with variation of latitude that enforces assent to the hypothesis

of their all belonging to one primitive form. These differences may be expressed as follows:—

Common Characters. Nasal tufts, patch on side of lower jaw and one above eye, (both eyelids,) bright blue; remainder of face and throat black. Back, and upper surface of wings and tail (the four central feathers), green, the latter tinged with blue at end; the rest of tail-feathers bright yellow. Belly and crissum varying from bright yellow to green. Forehead yellowish or whitish.

a. Nasal tufts short, only covering the nostrils; whole top of head (except anteriorly) and nape bright blue.

1. Body beneath, and crissum, green. Hab. Mexico and South Texas … var. luxuosa.

2. Body beneath, and crissum, yellow, sides more greenish. Hab. Guatemala and Honduras … var. guatemalensis.

b. Nasal tuft elongated, forming an anterior crest, the feathers reaching far beyond nostrils. Whole top of head pale heavy yellow, glossed behind with bluish.

3. Body beneath, and crissum, very bright gamboge-yellow. Hab. Colombia, Ecuador, Bogota, and Bolivia … var. incas.

Thus, starting with the green-bellied luxuosa of the Rio Grande, we come to the yellow-bellied guatemalensis; but intermediate localities show different proportions of the two colors. The nasal tufts in the first do not extend beyond the nasal fossæ; and the frontal yellowish is very narrow. In the second these tufts reach beyond the fossæ, and the frontal yellowish is more extended. In incas again the nasal tufts have reached their maximum, while the frontal yellowish extends over the whole cap, leaving only a trace of blue on the nape.

Xanthoura incas, var. luxuosa, Bonap.

GREEN JAY.

Garrulus luxuosus, Lesson, Rev. Zoöl. April, 1839, 100. Cyanocorax luxuosus, Du Bus, Esquisses Ornithologiques, IV, 1848, pl. xviii.—Cassin, Illust. I, 1853, I, pl. i. Xanthoura luxuosa, Bon. Consp. 1850, 380.—Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 224.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 589. Pica chloronota, Wagler, Isis, 1829, 750 (young male; name belongs to Corvus peruvianus, Gm.). Cyanocorax cyanicapillus, Cabanis, Fauna Peruana, 1844-46, 233 (note). Cyanocorax yncas, “Boddært,” Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, April, 1851, 115 (first added here to fauna of United States).

Sp. Char. Wings shorter than the tail, which is much graduated, the lateral feathers 1.25 inches shorter. Above green; beneath yellow, glossed continuously with green; inside of wings and outer four tail-feathers straw-yellow; rest of tail feathers green, glossed with blue. Sides of the head, and beneath from the bill to the forepart of the breast, velvet-black. Crown, nape, and a short maxillary stripe running up to the eye and involving the upper eyelid, brilliant blue; the nostril-feathers rather darker; the sides of the forehead whitish. Bill black; feet lead-color. Length, 11.00; wing, 4.75; tail, 5.40; tarsus, 1.65.

Hab. Valley of Rio Grande, of Texas, and southward.

As remarked above, the passage into the yellow-bellied guatemalensis is gradual as we proceed south; and the latter, and perhaps even the incas, can only be considered as fellow races of a common original species.

Xanthoura luxuosa.

Habits. Within the limits of the United States this beautiful species has thus far been only met with in Southeastern Texas in the lower valley of the Rio Grande. It was first described in 1839, by M. Lesson, a French naturalist, from a Mexican specimen, and in 1851 was first brought to our notice as a bird of the United States by Mr. Geo. N. Lawrence of New York. Specimens of this bird were obtained by the party of the Mexican Boundary Survey, and by Lieutenant Couch on the Rio Grande, at Matamoras, New Leon, and San Diego, Mexico. The only note as to its habits by Lieutenant Couch is to the effect that it eats seeds and insects.

The late Dr. Berlandier of Matamoras obtained specimens of this bird in the vicinity of that city, which were found among his collections. Among his manuscript notes occurs a description of the plumage and habits of this species, which he had described under the name of Pica cervantesii. In this he states that this bird inhabits the whole eastern coast of Mexico, but that he has only met with it on the banks of the Rio Bravo del Norte, in the vicinity of Matamoras. It is said to be both carnivorous and graminivorous, and comes about the houses in search of the refuse. Although it can swallow whole grains of corn, before eating it breaks them with its beak, holding them between its claws, in the manner of birds of prey, and biting with great force. It is commonly known as Pajaro verde, or Greenbird.

Mr. Dresser states that this species was common on the lower Rio Grande during the winter, but was not found on the Upper Rio Grande or in Texas, except as a straggler from Mexico.

This bird, Mr. Sumichrast states, is common throughout the Department of Vera Cruz, where it is generally known by the name of Verde detoca and Sonaja. It is said to be one of the birds most generally diffused throughout the whole department. It inhabits both the hot and the temperate regions, and is found even at the foot of the alpine, to the altitude of nearly six thousand feet above the sea. It is also said to be abundant in other parts of Mexico. It was observed to be quite numerous on the Tierra templada, or table-lands, and also among the hills that bound the plains of Perote and Puebla on the east, by Mr. William S. Pease, a naturalist who

was with General Scott’s army in its campaign in Mexico. Mr. Pease stated that it lived on the sides of the hills throughout the year, and that its local name was Pepe verde.

Colonel George A. McCall, Inspector-General of the United States Army, was the first person to collect these birds within our limits. He obtained them in the forests that border the Rio Grande on the southeastern frontier of Texas. There he found them all mated in the month of May, and he felt no doubt that they had their nests in the extensive and almost impenetrable thickets of mimosa, commonly called chaparral. From the jealousy and pugnacity which these birds manifested on the approach, or appearance even, of the large boat-tailed Blackbirds of that country (Quiscalus macrurus), which were nesting in great numbers in the vicinity, Colonel McCall was satisfied that the Jays were at that time also engaged in the duties of incubation and rearing their young. In character and temperament these birds appeared to be very active and lively, though less noisy than some other species of the family. Their gay plumage was exhibited to great advantage as they flitted from tree to tree, or dashed boldly in pursuit of such of their more plainly attired neighbors as ventured to intrude upon their domain.

Captain J. P. McCown, also quoted by Mr. Cassin, furnishes some additional observations in regard to these birds. He states that during the several years that he was in Texas, he frequently saw these Jays, but never met with them above Ringgold Barracks, or north of the woods that skirt the Rio Grande. They seemed to prefer the acacia groves which have sprung up where the ground has been overflowed. He regards it as a rather cautious bird. He observed nests high up in the trees above mentioned, which he supposes belong to this species, though this was never positively ascertained. He had no doubt that they breed in Texas.

Genus PERISOREUS, Bonap.

Perisoreus, Bonap. Saggio di una dist. met. 1831. (Type, Corvus canadensis?)

Dysornithia, Swainson, F. B. Am.II, 1831, 495. (Same type.)

Char. Feathers lax and full, especially on the back, and of very dull colors, without any blue. Head without distinct crest. Bill very short; broader than high. Culmen scarcely half the length of the head; straight to near the tip, then slightly curved; gonys more curved than culmen. Bill notched at tip. Nostrils round, covered by bristly feathers. Tail about equal to the wings; graduated. Tarsi rather short; but little longer than the middle toe. Plumage very soft, and without any lustre.

The Canada Jay has a near ally in a species of northern Europe and Siberia,—the Siberian Jay (P. infaustus). In size and proportions the two are quite identical, there being about the same proportionate length of wing and tail, and a general correspondence in the minutiæ of external anatomy.

In colors, however, they differ entirely; the P. infaustus having the head darker than the body, and uniform (instead of the contrary), and in having the lower primary and lower feathers of the greater coverts, as well as the greater part of the tail, bright rufous.

A. Dusky nuchal hood reaching forward to, or in front of, the eyes; plumbeous-black.

Dorsal feathers with white shafts in old and young. Tail-feathers not distinctly paler at ends.

1. White frontal patch narrower than length of the bill; blending gradually with the blackish of the crown. Upper parts umber-brownish. Wing, 5.50; tail, 5.40; bill, .90 and .30. Young. Entirely plumbeous-brown, feathers of head above bordered with paler. Beneath paler, whitish brown. Hab. Oregon, Washington Territory, British Columbia, etc. … var. obscurus.

Dorsal feathers without white shafts in old or young. Tail-feathers broadly tipped with dull white.

2. White frontal patch much broader than length of bill; abruptly defined, with a convex outline behind, against the dusky of the occiput. Upper parts plumbeous, with a slight brownish cast. Wing, 5.25; tail, 5.80; bill, .95 and .35. Young. Entirely uniform dark plumbeous. Hab. Canada, Maine, and Labrador to the Yukon … var. canadensis.

B. Dusky nuchal hood not reaching to the eyes, but confined to the nape; bluish-plumbeous.

3. White frontal patch covering whole crown, melting gradually into the ashy of the nape; upper parts bluish-ashy. Wing, 6.00; tail, 6.00; bill, 1.00 and .31. Young. Bluish-plumbeous, inclining to ashy-white on the crown and cheeks. Hab. Rocky Mountains of United States … var. capitalis.

Perisoreus canadensis.
18440 8452

In the more slender form, longer and narrower bill, and paler tints with a predominance of the light colors, of the var. capitalis, compared with the typical, or standard, var. canadensis, we see the peculiar impression of the middle region; while in the var. obscurus, the more dusky tints, and predominance of darker colors, the influence of the well-known law affecting colors in birds of the northwest coast region is seen.

Perisoreus canadensis, Bonap.

CANADA JAY; WHISKEY-JACK; MOOSE-BIRD.

Corvus canadensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 158.—Forster, Phil. Trans. LXII, 1772, 382.—Wilson, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 33, pl. xxi.—Bon. Obs. 1824, No. 42.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 53; V, 1839, 208, pl. cvii. Garrulus canadensis, Bon. (Saggio, 1831?) Syn. 1828, 58.—Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 295.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 232.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 155.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 121, pl. ccxxxiv. Dysornithia canadensis, Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, Appendix. Perisoreus canadensis, Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 375.—Cab. Mus. Hein. 1851, 219.—Newberry, Rep. P. R. R. Surv. VI, IV, 1857, 85.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 590.—Coues, P. A. N. S. 1861, 226.—Samuels, 366. Garrulus fuscus, Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. XII, 1817, 479. Pica nuchalis, Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827 (Pica No. 14). Garrulus trachyrrhynchus, Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 296, pl. lv (young). “Coracias mexicanus, Temminck,” Gray.

Perisoreus canadensis.

Sp. Char. Tail graduated; lateral feathers about one inch shortest. Wings a little shorter than the tail. Head and neck and forepart of breast white. A rather sooty plumbeous nuchal patch, becoming darker behind, from the middle of the cap to the back, from which it is separated by an interrupted whitish collar. Rest of upper parts dark ashy-plumbeous; the outer primaries margined, the secondaries, tertials, and tail-feathers obscurely tipped with white. Beneath smoky-gray. Crissum whitish. Bill and feet black. Length, 10.70; wing, 5.75; tail, 6.00; tarsus, 1.40.

Hab. Eastern Northern America into the northern part of United States; British America to Upper Yukon.

The young of this species are everywhere of a dull sooty-plumbeous, lighter on the middle of the belly, and more bluish-plumbeous on the wings and tail. With increasing age the region about the base of the bill whitens.

There is a decided bluish cast to the plumbeous of the tail. The white frontal patch has a convex posterior outline, and is abruptly defined against the blackish of the occiput and nape.

All specimens from Canada and the Northeastern United States, to the interior of British America, are referrible to this variety; in the Yukon Territory specimens show a tendency to var. obscurus of the northwest coast, having a narrower whitish frontal patch.

Habits. The Canada Jay was procured at Fort Simpson by Mr. Kennicott in August, September, and December, and at the same point by Mr. Ross in March and April, in the years 1860 and 1861. It was found breeding

in May at Anderson River Fort by Mr. MacFarlane. It was also procured at Big Island by Mr. Reid, at Nulato and Unalakleet by Mr. Dall, at St. Michael’s by Colonel Bulkley, at Fort Kenai by Bischoff, and at Fort Rae by Mr. Clarke. From the memoranda of Mr. MacFarlane, we have valuable information in regard to the nesting and breeding habits of this species. May 24, at Fort Anderson, an Indian lad discovered a nest of this Jay. It was built in a tree, was composed of hay and feathers, and contained, with two young birds a few days old, an egg that was perfectly fresh. This bird, Mr. MacFarlane states, is tolerably numerous in that quarter. During the severe cold of winter it is not quite so common as at other seasons. It is by no means a difficult bird to shoot, as it will always venture into close proximity to man. Flesh or fish are certain to attract numbers of them, and they also cause great annoyance to the marten-hunter, by eating the bait placed in the traps used for capturing those animals. None of this species were observed on the Arctic coast, nor east of Horton River, Fort Anderson being the most northern point where Mr. MacFarlane saw any, in his journeys across the barren grounds.

Other nests found in the same region were usually built in spruce-trees, on branches near the trunk, well concealed from view, and about ten feet from the ground. They were constructed of hay and feathers, supported underneath by a few willow sticks laid crosswise.

Mr. Dall characterizes this species as a very bold and familiar bird, that will frequently fly down and steal away his dinner from some hungry dog, if he is not on the alert, or devour the fish hung up in camp by the Indians to dry. They breed very early, and occupy the same nest year after year. The nest is very large, and composed entirely of soft materials, moss, hair, and the like. On the 20th of April, Mr. Dall received a nest of this Jay containing four half-fledged young, so that they must lay in March. The bird was abundant everywhere on the Yukon River.

These birds are known throughout the fur countries by the name of Whiskey-Jack, not from any supposed predilection for that beverage, but probably, as Mr. Kennicott has suggested, from a corruption of the Indian name for these birds, Wiss-ka-chon, which has been contorted into Whiskey-John and thence into Whiskey-Jack. Richardson observed these birds from Canada to the fur countries as far as latitude 69°. Throughout that region it is a constant attendant at the fur-posts and fishing-stations, and becomes so tame in the winter as to feed from the hand. Yet it is impatient of confinement, and soon pines away if deprived of its liberty. Its voice is said to be plaintive and squeaking, though it occasionally makes a low chattering. It hoards berries, pieces of meat, etc., in hollow trees, or between layers of bark, by which it is enabled to feed its young while the ground is still covered with snow.

Dr. Newberry found this Jay as far to the south, in California, as the upper end of the Sacramento Valley, in latitude 40°. The fact that the

isothermal line of this region passes south of Cincinnati, shows that climate and temperature do not regulate the range of this species. As observed in the summer months among the forests of Oregon, the Canada Jay appeared as a rather shy bird, exhibiting none of the familiarity and impudence exhibited in winter when made bold by hunger.

Wilson mentions the St. Lawrence as the southern boundary of this bird, a few only wintering in Northern New York and Vermont. But this is inexact. They are found resident throughout the year in a large part of Maine and in all the highlands of New Hampshire and Vermont. They are resident at Calais, where they breed in March at about latitude 45°, and descend in the winter to the southwest corner of Vermont, whence it is quite probable a few cross into Massachusetts, at Williamstown and Adams, though none have been detected, that I am aware. Wilson himself states that he was informed by a gentleman residing near Hudson, N. Y., that these birds have been observed in that neighborhood in the winter.

Dr. Coues met with these birds in Labrador. The first he saw were in a dense spruce forest. These were very shy, alighting only on the tops of the tallest trees, and flying off with loud harsh screams on his approach. Subsequently, at Rigolet, he found them abundant and very familiar. One or more were always to be seen hopping unconcernedly in the garden-patches around the houses, not in the least disturbed by the near presence of man, and showing no signs of fear even when very closely approached. He describes their voice as a harsh, discordant scream.

Mr. Edward Harris, of Moorestown, N. J., informed Mr. Audubon, that once, when fishing in a canoe in one of the lakes in the interior of Maine, these Jays were so fearless as to light on one end of his boat while he sat in the other, and helped themselves to his bait without taking any notice of him.

A nest of the Canada Jay, found by Mr. Boardman near St. Stephen’s, New Brunswick, measures four and a half inches in diameter and three inches in height. The cavity is about three inches wide and two deep. The nest is woven above a rude platform of sticks and twigs crossed and interlaced, furnishing a roughly made hemispherical base and periphery. Upon this an inner and more artistic nest has been wrought, made of a soft felting of fine mosses closely impacted and lined with feathers. The nest contained three eggs.

The egg of the Canada Jay measures 1.20 inches in length, by .82 of an inch in breadth. They are of an oblong-oval shape, and are more tapering at the smaller end than are most of the eggs of this family. The ground-color is of a light gray, with a slightly yellowish tinge over the entire egg, finely marked, more abundantly about the larger end, with points and blotches of slate-color and brown, and faint cloudings of an obscure lilac.

Perisoreus canadensis, var. obscurus, Ridgway.

ALASKAN GRAY JAY.

Perisoreus canadensis, Cooper & Suckley, 216.—Dall & Bannister, Trans. Chicago Acad. I, 1869, 286 (Alaska).—Finsch, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 40 (Alaska).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 307.

Sp. Char. (8,454 Shoalwater Bay, W. T., March 10, 1854; Dr. J. G. Cooper.) Above plumbeous-umber, inclining to grayish-plumbeous on wings and tail; shafts of the dorsal feathers conspicuously white. Whole crown and nape, above the lores and auriculars, sooty-black; separated from the brown of the back by a whitish tint. Forehead (narrowly), nasal tufts, lores, whole lateral and under side of head, with jugulum, pure white, rest of lower parts a duller and more brownish white. Wing, 5.50; tail, 5.30; culmen, .93; tarsus, 1.20. Young (5,904, Shoalwater Bay). Entirely plumbeous-brown, inclining to brownish-white beneath. Dorsal feathers with white shafts, and those of the forehead, crown, and nape, as well as the wing-coverts, with obsolete whitish borders.

This form, as described above, seems to be peculiar to the northwest coast, reaching its extreme development in Washington Territory and Oregon. North of Sitka, and in the Yukon Territory, specimens incline toward the var. canadensis, in broader frontal white, and purer plumbeous colors.

Habits. Dr. Cooper met with this variety at the mouth of the Columbia River in March in small scattered flocks, industriously seeking insects and seeds among the spruce-trees, occasionally whistling in a loud melodious tone like that of the Cardinal Grosbeak. He also states that the notes of this bird differ much from the other Jays in being clear and musical, and they sometimes show a considerable variety of song.

This Jay, Mr. Lord states, is so familiar and confiding, and so fond of being near the habitations of man, that the settlers never harm it. In the cold weather he has seen it hop by the fire, ruffle up its feathers and warm itself without the least fear, keeping a sharp lookout for crumbs, and looking so beseechingly with its glittering gray eyes, that no one could refuse such an appeal for a stray morsel. It winters in British Columbia and Vancouver Island.

Perisoreus canadensis, var. capitalis, Baird.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GRAY JAY.

Sp. Char. (61,084, Henry’s Fork, Wyoming Territory, F. V. Hayden.) Above fine light bluish-plumbeous, becoming much lighter on the anterior portion of the back; tertials, secondaries, wing-coverts, primaries, and tail-feathers passing into whitish terminally, on the latter forming quite broad and distinct tips. A nuchal patch of a slightly darker tint than the back, and separated from it by the hoary whitish of the anterior dorsal region. Whole of the head (except the nuchal patch), with the anterior lower parts, as far as the breast, pure white; rest of lower parts ashy-white, becoming gradually more ashy posteriorly. Wing, 5.80; tail, 6.00; culmen, 1.00. Young (18,440,

Fort Benton, April 23, J. A. Mullan). Generally ashy-plumbeous, with a decided bluish cast to wings and tail; orbital region, lores, forehead, and nasal tufts blackish; crown, a broad space below the eye from the bill across the auriculars, with the middle of the abdomen, pale hoary-ashy. Wings and tail as in the adult.

This race, very different from the two styles found to the westward and eastward of it, is peculiar to Rocky Mountain regions, and apparently only occurring south of the northern boundary of the United States. A very large series of specimens, brought in at various times from numerous localities, substantiate the constancy of the characters pointed out above.

Genus PSILORHINUS, Rüppell.

Psilorhinus, Rüppell, Mus. Senck. 1837, 188. (Type, Pica morio, Wagler.)

Char. Color very dull brown above. Bill very stout, compressed, without notch; higher than broad at the nostrils; culmen curved from the base. Nostrils rounded; the anterior extremity rounded off into the bill; not covered by bristles, but fully exposed. Tail rather longer than the wings, graduated; the lateral feather three fourths the longest; secondaries and tertials nearly as long as the primaries. Legs stout and short, not equal to the head, and little longer than the bill from base.

Psilorhinus morio.
4114

This genus embraces Jays of large size and very dull plumage. The thick bill, with the much curved culmen, the moderate tail, and the open nostrils, may serve to distinguish it from its allies. The nostril is very large, and its anterior portion is bevelled off to a greater degree than in any genus, except in Calocitta. This last-mentioned genus has the same form of bill and of nostrils, but the head has a long recurved crest; the tail is twice as long as the wings; the lateral feather nearly half the middle; the lateral tarsal plates scutellate for the inferior half, etc.

In the shape of the bill and the shortness of the primaries, compared with the broad tertials and secondaries, there is much resemblance to Xanthoura. The nostrils are, however, uncovered, the legs much stouter and shorter, being shorter than the head instead of longer; the tail-feathers are broader, etc.

Psilorhinus morio, Gray.

BROWN JAY.

Pica morio, Wagler, Isis, 1829, VII, 751.—Ib. Isis, 1831, 527.—Voyage de la Favorite, V, 1839, 54 (said to have been killed at San Francisco, Cal., by Botta). Psilorhinus morio, Gray, List, genera, 1841, 51.—Bonap. Consp. 1850, 381.—Cab. Mus. Hein. 1851, 226.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 592, pl. lxviii, f. 1, 2. “Pica fuliginosa, Lesson, Traité d’Orn. 1831, 333.” Psilorhinus mexicanus, Rüppell, Mus. Senck., 1837, pl. xi, f. 2.

Psilorhinus morio.

Sp. Char. Tail much graduated; the lateral feathers about two inches shortest. Second quill equal to the secondaries; third and fourth longest. General color dark smoky-brown, becoming almost black on the head; the breast brownish-gray; nearly white about the anus; under tail-coverts tinged with brown; the exposed portion of the tail with a decided gloss of blue; bill and feet, in some specimens yellow, in others black. Length, 16.00; wing, 8.00; tail. 8.25; tarsus. 1.80.

Hab. Rio Grande Valley, north-eastern Mexico, southward. Cordova (Scl. 1856, 300); ? Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 22); Honduras (Scl. II, 113); Costa Rica (Caban. J. 1861, 83); Vera Cruz, hot and temperate regions (Sumich. Mem. Bost. Soc. I, 554).

The difference in the color of the bill appears to be independent of sex. The feet of the yellow-billed birds are not of the same pure yellow.

The Psilorhinus mexicanus of Rüppell is described as having white tips to the tail-feathers; of these there is no trace in the adult specimens, male and female, from the Rio Grande, before us. He speaks of a supposed young bird sent from Tamaulipas, by Lindheimer, as being without these white tips.

PLATE XLII.

1. Xanthoura luxuosa. New Leon, New Mex., 4052.

2. Psilorhinus morio. ♀ New Leon, Mex., 4114.

3. Cyanura cristata. ♂ D. C., 12408.

4. Perisoreus canadensis. Juv., Maine, 1920.

A series of specimens of this species exhibits considerable diversities. Some skins from Mirador, Mex., not far from Vera Cruz, perhaps best represent the species as first described by Wagler. In these the head and neck are sooty-brown, becoming lighter on the jugulum and on the back. The wings and tail show a trace of dull bluish. In No. 23,915 the under parts are sooty-gray, the bill and legs black; in 23,916 the colors are similar,

with a fulvous tinge on the breast, the bill and feet yellow. In both the under surface of tail is brown to the end. In 23,917 the under parts, from breast to crissum inclusive, with the tibiæ, are brownish-white, the tail-feathers (excepting the two median) tipped with white for over an inch, the bill and feet black. This one also has an obscure dull bluish wash or patch along the feathers of the ramus of lower jaw not observed in other specimens.

The specimens collected by Lieutenant Couch, and described in the Pacific Railroad Report are considerably smaller, and exhibit other differences which may prove of specific importance. In this case they will appropriately bear Rüppell’s name of P. mexicanus.

Habits. This is a Mexican species, occasionally extending its movements as far north as the valley of the Rio Grande, and probably crossing our lines into Texas, although of this there is as yet no positive evidence.

Specimens of this species were procured by Lieutenant Couch at Boquillo, San Diego, and at China, in north-eastern Mexico, and were found by him living in forests of high trees. It is Jay-like in its habits, being decidedly gregarious, and having harsh and loud notes. Though making more noise than any other bird in the neighborhood, if one of their number is brought down by the discharge of a gun, the noise hushes them at once, and the rest move off in perfect silence.

Mr. Sumichrast, in his paper on the Distribution of the Birds of Vera Cruz, states that this species abounds in both the hot and the temperate regions of that department, and, indeed, the greater portions of Vera Cruz. He speaks of it as a bird well known and generally detested on account of its troublesome and noisy habits. It is found everywhere except in the alpine region, and it does not appear ever to go beyond a vertical elevation of 4,500 feet. This gentleman has been assured that the bird never makes any nest of its own, but invariably lays its eggs in those belonging to other birds. He does not so state, but we infer that he means to convey the idea that this Jay appropriates the nests of other birds in which to hatch its own young, not that, like the Cowbird, it leaves its eggs to be brought up by strangers.

This Jay was met with by Mr. G. C. Taylor at Taulevi, in Honduras; and from that place eastward, as far as the Atlantic, he found it very common. It was generally seen or heard shrieking in the bushes by the roadsides. It was also found by Mr. Salvin to occur on the eastern road between Quiriqua and Iguana, on the road to Guatemala.

Mr. Joseph Leyland found this species common both in Honduras and the Belize. It occurred in small flocks, which were very noisy, and annoyed the hunter by always giving the alarm.