Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/639

 JAY limited area, as G. cervicalis, the local and resident Jay of Algeria, G. hyrmnus, found on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, and G. taevanus confined to the island of Formosa. The most aberrant of the true Jays is G. lidthi, a very rare species, which seems to come from some part of Japan (vide Salvadori, Atti Accad. Torino, vii. p. 474), though its exact locality is not known. Leaving the tru3 Jays of the genus Gamdtis, it is expe dient next to consider those of a group named, in 1831, Perisoreus by Bonaparte (Saggio, &c., Anim. Vertebrati, p. 43) and Dysornithia by Swainson (F. B.- Americana, ii. p. 495). 1 This group contains two species one the Lanius infaustus of Linnaeus and the Siberian Jay of English writers, which ranges throughout the pine-forests of the north of Europe and Asia, and the second the Corvus canadenxis of the same author, or Canada Jay, occupying a similar station in America, The so-called Siberian Jay is one of the most entertaining birds in the world. Its versatile cries and actions, as seen and heard by those who penetrate the solitude of the northern forests it inhabits, can never be forgot ten by one who has had experi ence of them, any more than the pleas ing sight of its rust- colour ed tail, which an occasion al gleam of sun shine will light up f/ into a bril- f /Ji liancy quite unexpected by those who have only sur- F 10 - 2. American Blue Jay. veyecl the bird s otherwise gloomy appearance in the glass- case of a museum. It seems scarcely to know fear, ob truding itself on the notice of any passenger who invades its haunts, and, should he halt, making itself at once a denizen of his bivouac. In confinement it speedily becomes friendly, but suitable food for it is not easily found. Linnaeus seems to have been under a misapprehen sion when he applied to it the trivial epithet it bears ; for by none of his countrymen is it deemed an unlucky bird, but rather the reverse. In fact, no one can listen to the cheery sound of its ordinary calls with any but a hopeful feeling. The Canada Jay, or &quot; Whiskey-Jack &quot; (the cor ruption probably of a Cree name), seems to be of a similar nature, but it presents a still more sombre coloration, its nestling plumage, 2 indeed, being thoroughly Corvine in appearance and suggestive of its being a pristine form. As though to make amends for the dull plumage of the species last mentioned, North America offers some of the most brilliantly coloured of the Subfamily, and the common 1 Recent writers have preferred the former name, though it was only used subgenerically by its author, who assigned to it no characters, which the inventor of the latter was careful to do, regarding it at the same time as a genus. 2 In this it was described and figured (F. B, Americana, ii. p. 296, pi. 55) as a distinct species, G. l/rachyrhynchus. Blue Jay of Canada and the Eastern States of the Union, Cyanurus cristatus (fig. 2), is one of the most conspicuous birds of the transatlantic woods. The account of its habits by Alexander Wilson is known to every student of ornithology, and Wilson s followers have had little to do but supplement his history with unimportant details. 3 In this bird and its many allied forms, coloration, though almost confined to various tints of blue, seems to reach its climax, but want of space forbids more particular notice of them, or of the members of the other genera Cyanocitta, Cyanocorax, Xanthura, Psilorkinus, and more, which inhabit various parts of the Western continent. It remains, however, to mention the genus Cissa, including many beautiful forms belonging to the Indian Region, and among them the G. speciosa and C. sinensis, so often represented in Oriental drawings, though doubts may be expressed whether these birds are not more nearly related to the Pies than to the Jays. (A. x.) JAY, JOHN (1745-1829), American statesman, was the descendant of a refugee Huguenot family, and was born at New York, December 12, 1745. After three years spent in the house of the pastor of the French church at New Ilochelle, followed by four under a private tutor at home, he entered King s (now Columbia) College in 17 GO. On graduating there, May 15, 1764, he entered the office of Mr Kissam, an eminent New York lawyer; and in 1768 he was called to the bar. He rapidly rose into a lucrative practice, and in 1774 was married to Sarah, youngest daughter of William Livingston, afterwards governor of New Jersey. The great crisis in the fate of the American colonies was fast approaching ; and, like many other clever young lawyers, Jay took an eager, active part in the pro ceedings that resulted in the independence of the United States. He was one of the committee of fifty selected by the citizens of New York in 1774 to correspond with other colonial committees on the subject of the Boston Fort Bill. He was returned as a delegate from New York city to the continental Congress held at Philadelphia in September 1774, and, though almost the youngest member, was entrusted with drawing up the Address to the People of Great Britain. The numerous committees and associations which were from time to time appointed to meet the exigencies of that troubled period almost always included Jay s name. Of the second Congress also, which met at Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, Jay was a member; and his able and eloquent pen was again useful in writing addresses to the peoples of Canada and Ireland. He was a member of the secret committee of Congress for corre sponding with the friends of America in Europe. In April 1776, while still retaining his seat in Congress, Jay was returned to the provincial convention of New York by New York city and county ; and his consequent absence from Philadelphia deprived him of the honour of affixing his signature to the declaration of independence issued on July 4, 1776. It was Jay who drafted the constitution that w T as finally adopted by the New York convention ; and that statesman, after acting as one of the council of safety for some time, accepted a provisional appointment as chief justice of New York State, which was afterwards confirmed under the organized constitution, with the proviso that he could hold with his judicial post no other save that of delegate to Congress &quot; on special occasion.&quot; Such occasion was found in the secession of what is now the State of Vermont from the jurisdiction of New Hampshire and New York. Jay was sent to Congress (December 7, 1778), of which he was immediately elected president. The follow- 3 The &quot; Blue Jay of a recent American humorist would, however, from the locality assigned to his inimitable story, appear to be, not this species, but one of its western kindred American ornithologists nmst determine which.