_Cyanocorax pileatus._
_Corvus pileatus_, +Ill.+—Pl. col. 58.
[58] Length 14 inches, tail 5⁸⁄₁₀, rictus 1²⁄₁₀, tarsus 2²⁄₁₀,
middle toe 1⁵⁄₁₀.
This fine bird was brought to Mr. Hill, about the end of the year
1844, from the mountains of St. Andrews, by a negro who stated that
he had caught it near Newcastle. Its wings were cut; which at once
excited the suspicion that it had been a caged bird, but, on a moment’s
examination, it was perceived that its perfect cleanness and the
smoothness of its plumage decisively indicated a state of freedom and
wildness. The man stated that having caught it alive in the garden of
his cottage, which, (from the circumstance that the cottage-gardens,
in the precipitous mountains, often run into narrow cliffs and
corners, environed as if by enormous walls,) he might readily do, he
had endeavoured to keep it alive, and had clipped both its wings for
its detention. After a few days, however, it died, probably for want
of proper food, and he brought it to Kingston, to dispose of it for a
trifle.
I find by reference to Temminck, Pl. col., that this specimen, now in
my possession, is a female; the male has the belly yellowish. His
figure is also a female. He ascribes the species to Brazil and Paraguay.