254 t'ltoWs, J M's, rz're.

Crows and Jays exhibit marked traits of character and are possessed of unusual intelligence. Some systematists place them at the top of the Avian tree, and, if their mental develtmment be taken into con- sideration, they have undoubted claims to this high rank.

KEY To rm: SPECIES. A. l’lumage black. (1. Wing about 15'00; bill over 2'50 . . . . . . . . . . 4556a. RAVEN. b. Wing about law; bill about 2'00. 453. AM. CROW. 488a. FLORIDA Cnow. 0. Wing about 1100; bill about 1'50. . . . . . . . . 490. Fisn Caow. 13. I’lumage bluish or grayish. a. Back blue; tail tipped with white; a black breastspatch. 477. BLI'E JAY. 477a. FLORIDA BLUE JAY. b. Back bluish gray; tail not tipped with white; throat and breast indis- tinetly streaked with whitish . . . . . . . . . 47‘... FLORIDA JAY. a. Back gray ; back of head and nape blackish; forehead whitish. 484. CANADA JAY. 484v. Laaaanon JAY.

4'77. Cyanocitta. cristata. (Lime). BLI‘E JAY. (See Fig. 44; a.) Ari—Upper parts grayish blue; under parts dusky whitish, whiter on the throat and belly; forehead. and a band passing across the back of the head down the sides of the neck and across the breast, black; head crested; ex— posed surface of wings blue. the greater \\'iug~eoverts and secondaries barred with black and tipped with white; tail blue. all but the outer feathers barred with black. and all but the middle pair broadly tipped with white, this white tip rarely less than 1'00 in width on the outer feather. L. 11'74; W., 5'14; T., 5-19; 13., 104.

It’miye.——I‘Iastern North America; breeds from Florida to Newfoundland; generally resident throughout. its range.

\V'ashington; rather rare 1). 11., common T. V., Apl. 2? to May15; Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Sing Sing; tolerably common 1’. R. Cambridge, common 1’. 1%., abundant T. V.. Apl. and May; Sept. and ()et.

Nest. of rootlets. compactly interwoven. generally in a tree crotch fifteen to twenty feet up. [ff/(m. four to six. pale olive green or brownish ashy. rather thickly marked With distinct or obscure spots ot'varyiug shades of cinnamon- brown, 1'10 x '85.

The Blue Jay. I fear. is a reprobate, but. notwithstanding his fond- ness for eggs and nestlings, and his evident. joy in worrying other birds. there is a dashing. reckless air about him which makes us par-- don his faults and like him in spite of ourselves.

Like many men. he needs the inspiration of congenial company to bring.r out the social side‘ of his disposition. Household duties may perhaps absorb him, but certain it is that when at home he is very (lif- ferent from the noisy fellow who, with equally noisy conn'ades, roams the woods in the fall.

llow hisjay.jny rings out on the frosty morning air! It is a Sig-