The Distribution of the Species of Jays.—Owing to the very wide range of several of the tits, the uncertainty of the specific distinction of others, and the difficulty in many cases of ascertaining their actual distribution, it has not been found practicable to illustrate this genus by means of a map. For this purpose we have chosen the genus Garrulus or the jays, in which the species are less numerous, the specific areas less extensive, and the species generally better defined; while being large and handsome
birds they are sure to have been collected, or at least noticed, wherever they occur. There are, so far as yet known, twelve species of true jays, occupying an area extending from Western Europe to Eastern Asia and Japan, and nowhere passing the Arctic circle to the north, or the tropic of Cancer to the south, so that they constitute one of the most typical of the Palæarctic[[6]] genera. The following are the species, beginning with the most westerly and proceeding towards the east. The numbers prefixed to each species correspond to those on the coloured map which forms the frontispiece to this volume.
1. Garrulus glandarius.—The common jay, inhabits the British Isles and all Europe except the extreme north, extending also into North Africa, where it has been observed in many parts of Algeria. It occurs near Constantinople, but apparently not in Asia Minor; and in Russia, up to, but not beyond, the Urals. The jays being woodland birds are not found in open plains or barren uplands, and their distribution is hence by no means uniform within the area they actually occupy.
2. Garrulus cervicalis.—The Algerian jay, is a very distinct species inhabiting a limited area in North Africa, and found in some places along with the common species.
3. Garrulus krynicki.—The black-headed jay, is closely allied to the common species, but quite distinct, inhabiting a comparatively small area in South-eastern Europe, and Western Asia.
4. Garrulus atricapillus.—The Syrian jay, is very closely allied to the last, and inhabits an adjoining area in Syria, Palestine, and Southern Persia.
5. Garrulus hyrcanus.—The Persian jay, is a small species allied to our jay and only known from the Elburz Mountains in the north of Persia.
6. Garrulus brandti.—Brandt's jay, is a very distinct species, having an extensive range across Asia from the Ural Mountains to North China, Mandchuria, and the northern island of Japan, and also crossing the Urals into
Russia where it has been found as far west as Kazan in districts where the common jay also occurs.
7. Garrulus lanceolatus.—The black-throated jay, is a very distinct form known only from the North-western Himalayas and Nepal, common about Simla, and extending into Cashmere beyond the range of the next species.