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.