SubfamilyGARRULINÆ.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. InParidæthese 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.GenusPICA,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).Illustration: Pica hudsonicaPica hudsonica.4547A specimen ofP. nuttallihas the lateral tarsal plates with two or three transverse divisions on the lower third. This has not been observed by us to occur inP. 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 ofLinnæus).Corvus hudsonica,Jos. Sabine, App. Narr.Franklin’s Journey, 1823, 25, 671.Picus hudsonica,Bonap.List, 1838.—Ib.Conspectus, 1850, 383.—Maxim.Reise NordAmer.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.Illustration: Pica nuttalliPica 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.Illustration: Color plate 38PLATEXXXVIII.Illustration: Color plate 38 detail 11.Pica hudsonica.♂Nev., 53629.Illustration: Color plate 38 detail 22.Gymnokitta cyanocephala.♂Cal., 16247.Illustration: Color plate 38 detail 33.Pica nuttalli.♂Cal., 3938.Illustration: Color plate 38 detail 44.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 likekay´-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 thanPica 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 likeH. 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 Magpieflew 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 ofChrysomitris, apparentlypinus, 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 ofP. 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 ofP. 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.2dSeries,I, 1847, 46.Sp. Char.Bill, and naked skin behind the eye, bright yellow; otherwise similar toP. 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 likepait-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.GenusCYANURA,Swainson.Cyanurus,Swainson,F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 495, Appendix. (Type,Corvus cristatus,Linn.)Cyanocitta,Cabanis,Mus. Hein.1851 (not ofStrickland, 1845).Illustration: Cyanura cristataCyanura cristata.1423Gen. 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 invar.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.macrolophaWhole 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 underCyanura stelleri, namely,stelleri,frontalis, macrolopha, diademata, andcoronata, all appear to representwell-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 withC. stelleri, we have the anterior part of head and body, including interscapular region, black, without any markings on the head. Infrontalisthe back is lighter, and a glossy blue shows on the forehead. Inmacrolophathe 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. Incoronatathe blue tinge is deeper, and pervades the entire body, except the side of the head. The shade of blue is different frommacrolopha, and more like that ofstelleri;diademata, intermediate in habitat betweenmacrolophaandcoronata, is also intermediate in colors. The tail becomes rather more even, and the bill more slender, as we proceed fromstelleritocoronata. The bars on the secondary coverts become darker in the same progression.Cyanura cristata,Swainson.BLUE JAY.Corvus cristatus,Linn.Syst. Nat. I, (10thed.,) 1758, 106; (12thed.,) 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, BirdsN. 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 ormore 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.Illustration: Cyanura cristataCyanura 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 theprincipal 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 birdsto 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.
SubfamilyGARRULINÆ.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. InParidæthese 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.GenusPICA,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).Illustration: Pica hudsonicaPica hudsonica.4547A specimen ofP. nuttallihas the lateral tarsal plates with two or three transverse divisions on the lower third. This has not been observed by us to occur inP. 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 ofLinnæus).Corvus hudsonica,Jos. Sabine, App. Narr.Franklin’s Journey, 1823, 25, 671.Picus hudsonica,Bonap.List, 1838.—Ib.Conspectus, 1850, 383.—Maxim.Reise NordAmer.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.Illustration: Pica nuttalliPica 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.Illustration: Color plate 38PLATEXXXVIII.Illustration: Color plate 38 detail 11.Pica hudsonica.♂Nev., 53629.Illustration: Color plate 38 detail 22.Gymnokitta cyanocephala.♂Cal., 16247.Illustration: Color plate 38 detail 33.Pica nuttalli.♂Cal., 3938.Illustration: Color plate 38 detail 44.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 likekay´-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 thanPica 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 likeH. 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 Magpieflew 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 ofChrysomitris, apparentlypinus, 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 ofP. 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 ofP. 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.2dSeries,I, 1847, 46.Sp. Char.Bill, and naked skin behind the eye, bright yellow; otherwise similar toP. 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 likepait-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.GenusCYANURA,Swainson.Cyanurus,Swainson,F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 495, Appendix. (Type,Corvus cristatus,Linn.)Cyanocitta,Cabanis,Mus. Hein.1851 (not ofStrickland, 1845).Illustration: Cyanura cristataCyanura cristata.1423Gen. 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 invar.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.macrolophaWhole 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 underCyanura stelleri, namely,stelleri,frontalis, macrolopha, diademata, andcoronata, all appear to representwell-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 withC. stelleri, we have the anterior part of head and body, including interscapular region, black, without any markings on the head. Infrontalisthe back is lighter, and a glossy blue shows on the forehead. Inmacrolophathe 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. Incoronatathe blue tinge is deeper, and pervades the entire body, except the side of the head. The shade of blue is different frommacrolopha, and more like that ofstelleri;diademata, intermediate in habitat betweenmacrolophaandcoronata, is also intermediate in colors. The tail becomes rather more even, and the bill more slender, as we proceed fromstelleritocoronata. The bars on the secondary coverts become darker in the same progression.Cyanura cristata,Swainson.BLUE JAY.Corvus cristatus,Linn.Syst. Nat. I, (10thed.,) 1758, 106; (12thed.,) 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, BirdsN. 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 ormore 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.Illustration: Cyanura cristataCyanura 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 theprincipal 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 birdsto 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.
SubfamilyGARRULINÆ.
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. InParidæthese 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.
GenusPICA,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).
Illustration: Pica hudsonicaPica hudsonica.4547
Pica hudsonica.4547
A specimen ofP. nuttallihas the lateral tarsal plates with two or three transverse divisions on the lower third. This has not been observed by us to occur inP. 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 ofLinnæus).Corvus hudsonica,Jos. Sabine, App. Narr.Franklin’s Journey, 1823, 25, 671.Picus hudsonica,Bonap.List, 1838.—Ib.Conspectus, 1850, 383.—Maxim.Reise NordAmer.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.
Illustration: Pica nuttalliPica nuttalli.
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.
Illustration: Color plate 38PLATEXXXVIII.
PLATEXXXVIII.
PLATEXXXVIII.
Illustration: Color plate 38 detail 11.Pica hudsonica.♂Nev., 53629.
1.Pica hudsonica.♂Nev., 53629.
1.Pica hudsonica.♂Nev., 53629.
Illustration: Color plate 38 detail 22.Gymnokitta cyanocephala.♂Cal., 16247.
2.Gymnokitta cyanocephala.♂Cal., 16247.
2.Gymnokitta cyanocephala.♂Cal., 16247.
Illustration: Color plate 38 detail 33.Pica nuttalli.♂Cal., 3938.
3.Pica nuttalli.♂Cal., 3938.
3.Pica nuttalli.♂Cal., 3938.
Illustration: Color plate 38 detail 44.Picicorvus columbianus. Oregon, 4461.
4.Picicorvus columbianus. Oregon, 4461.
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 likekay´-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 thanPica 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 likeH. 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 Magpieflew 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 ofChrysomitris, apparentlypinus, 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 ofP. 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 ofP. 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.2dSeries,I, 1847, 46.
Sp. Char.Bill, and naked skin behind the eye, bright yellow; otherwise similar toP. 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 likepait-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.
GenusCYANURA,Swainson.
Cyanurus,Swainson,F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 495, Appendix. (Type,Corvus cristatus,Linn.)
Cyanocitta,Cabanis,Mus. Hein.1851 (not ofStrickland, 1845).
Illustration: Cyanura cristataCyanura cristata.1423
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 invar.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 underCyanura stelleri, namely,stelleri,frontalis, macrolopha, diademata, andcoronata, all appear to representwell-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 withC. stelleri, we have the anterior part of head and body, including interscapular region, black, without any markings on the head. Infrontalisthe back is lighter, and a glossy blue shows on the forehead. Inmacrolophathe 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. Incoronatathe blue tinge is deeper, and pervades the entire body, except the side of the head. The shade of blue is different frommacrolopha, and more like that ofstelleri;diademata, intermediate in habitat betweenmacrolophaandcoronata, is also intermediate in colors. The tail becomes rather more even, and the bill more slender, as we proceed fromstelleritocoronata. The bars on the secondary coverts become darker in the same progression.
Cyanura cristata,Swainson.
BLUE JAY.
Corvus cristatus,Linn.Syst. Nat. I, (10thed.,) 1758, 106; (12thed.,) 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, BirdsN. 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 ormore 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.
Illustration: Cyanura cristataCyanura cristata.
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 theprincipal 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 birdsto 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.