Occipital crest of linear-oblong, slightly recurved feathers; tail long, moderately rounded; head, neck, and fore part of back brownish-black, feathers of the forehead tipped with light blue; hind part of back, rump, upper tail-coverts and lower parts light blue; wings blue, secondary quills and their coverts rich ultramarine, narrowly barred with black, outer webs of primaries paler, their inner webs dusky; tail blue, with numerous narrow inconspicuous dusky bars.
Male, 13, wing 511/12.
Rocky Mountains, Columbia River, and north-west coast. Common. Migratory.
Corvus Stelleri, Gmel. Linn. Syst. Nat. v. i. p. 370.
Corvus Stelleri, Bonap. Syn. p. 433.
Steller's Jay, Corvus Stelleri, Bonap. Amer. Orn. v. ii. p. 44.
Garrulus Stelleri, Steller's Jay, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 294.
Steller's Jay, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 229.
Steller's Jay, Corvus Stelleri, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 453.
231. 2. Garrulus cristatus, Linn. Blue Jay.
Plate CII. Male and Female.
Feathers of the head elongated, oblong; tail much rounded. Upper parts light purplish-blue; wings and tail ultramarine, secondaries, their coverts, and tail-feathers barred with black, and tipped with white; a narrow band margining the forehead, loral space, and a band round the neck, black; throat and cheeks bluish-white; lower parts greyish-white tinged with brown.
Male, 12, 14.
Breeds from Texas eastward and northward to the Fur Countries, and as far as the bases of the Rocky Mountains. Abundant. Resident in the Middle, Interior, and Southern States.