JAY. 157 JAY. fronted jay,' and 'long-crested jay.' These birds are especially characteristic of the Rocky Moun- tain and Sierra Nevada regions, while the typical form is seen from Oregon to Alaska, replacing the blue jay of the East. These jays have the whole head, neck, and back sooty-blackish or brownish, the remainder of the plumage, blue of some shade, with black markings on the wings. Their habita are similar to those of the Eastern bird. One other North American jay deserves mention, not only because of its beauty, but because it repre- sents a group of jays characteristic of the warmer parts of America, notable for brilliancy of plumage. This is the Rio Grande jay {Xan- thoura hixiiosa) , abundant in some parts of the lower Rio Grande Valley. It is about the size of the blue jay, but has no crest, and the prevailing colors are green above and greenish yellow below, but the sides of the head, the chin, throat and breast, and markings on the wings are black, while the top of the head is rich blue and the forehead is white. The nest and eggs are similar to those of the less gorgeous jays. Consult: Dresser, Birds of Europe (London, 1S79) ; Xewton, Dictionary of Birds (London and New York, 1893-96) ; Coues, Birds of the yorthirest (Washington, 1874); Keyser, Birds of the Rockies (Chicago, 1902). JAY, Sir .James (17.32-181.5). An American physician, brother of .John Jay. He was born in Xew York City, studied medicine, and became a practicing physician. He was instrumental in obtaining the endowments for King's (now Co- lumbia) College, Xew York, and Benjamin Frank- lin's projected college (now the University of Pennsylvania) in Philadelphia. For the pur- pose of soliciting contributions for these colleges, he visited England in 17.32, where he was knighted by the King, George IIT. His writings include two pamphlets relating to the collections made for the colleges in America (1771 and 1774). and Reflections and Observations on the (lout (1772). JAY, .Joiix (1745-1829). An eminent Ameri- can statesman and jurist. He was born in New York City. December 12, 174.5, of French Hugue- not descent, and was the son of Peter Jay, a wealthy merchant. He passed his childhood at Rye. X. Y., was educated in Xew Rochelle. X. Y., and at King's (now Columbia) College, where he graduated in 1764 ; studied law in the office of Benjamin Kissam in Xew Y'ork City: was ad- mitted to the bar in 1768, and soon attained eminence in his profession. In 1770 he was one of the group of lawyers, several of whom later became famous, who formed the professional club known as 'The Moot.' He was made secretary of the commission appointed to determine the dis- puted boundary between Xew York and Con- necticut in February, 1773. and in April of the following year married, at Elizabeth. X. .J., Sarah Livingston, the daughter of William Liv- ingston (q.v.), thus allying himself with one of the most influential Whig families in the Mid- dle Colonies. In the pre-Revolutionary disturb- ances, though insistent for what he considered to be the rights of the Colonists, he allied himself with the conservative element in Xew Y'ork, and deprecated the radicalism of such men as Isaac Sears and John Lamb, the leaders of the 'Sons of Liberty.' Tn Alay, 1774, he was made a mem- der of the important Committee of Fifty-One in Xew York, appointed "to correspond with our sister Colonies on all matters of moment," which was controlled by the conservative element and opposed all acts of violence. The answer sent by it to the communication of May 13th from Bos- ton urging Xew York to concur in a policy' of non-importation and of a discontinuance of trade with the West Indian Islands is attributed to Jay. Jay was a delegate to the first Continental Congress in 1774, was a member of the committee appointed "to state the rights of the Colonie.s in general," supported Galloway's celebrated plan for an accommodation with the mother coun- try (see Galloway, .Joseph ) . and drafted the ad- dress to the people of Great Britain. After his return to Xew York he was an influential member of the dominating Committee of Inspection and of the Committee of Observation, which succeeded it; was a member of the committee for the re- lief of Boston, and was also a member of the so- called Provincial Convention, an electoral body, by which he was cho£?n one of the .delegates of Xew York to the second Continental Congress. He became a colonel of Xew Y'ork City militia, and in 1776 was chosen a member of the Provincial Congress of Xew Y'ork, by which body he was called away in May from the Continental Congi-ess at Philadelphia, thus fail- ing to become a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Of the Provincial Congress, later called the 'Convention of the Representatives of the State of Xew York,' which assembled in July, 1776, he was also a member. He drafted the resolution which was passed authorizing the Xew York delegates in the Continental Congress to sign the Declaration ; was chairman of a secret military committee vested with extraor- dinary powers, which was appointed at the time of Lord Howe's expected passage up the Hudson River; was a member of other important com- mittees; and in December, 1776, was the author of an address issued by the Convention to the people of the Colony. Early in the following year he had an important share in the drafting of the Constitution and Bill of Rights for the State of Xew York. L'pon the adoption of that instru- ment, he was made a member of a Council of Safety and was appointed chief justice pro tem- pore, being regularly confirmed early in Septem- ber. Late in 1778 lie again became a member of Congress, without vacating his seat on the bench, and on December 10th he was elected president of that body to succeed Henry Laurens, in which position he remained until September 28. 1779, when he was succeeded by Samuel Huntington, having previously, on August 10th, resigned the chief justiceship. In September, 1779, he was appointed L'nited States Minister to Spain, and on October 20th started on his mission. He was never officially received by the Span- ish Government, which, though allied with France and at war with Great Britain, stead- ily refused to recognize the independence of the United States. Aside from securing a few small loans, he was able to accomplish nothing, and after an unsatisfactory, and, in many re- spects, a humiliating sojourn of two years, he proceeded to Paris in the early summer of 1782 to join Franklin in negotiating the treaty of peace Wth Great Britain. The two were later joined by .John Adams, [n this capacity .Jay, along with his fellow-cnmmissinners. rendered an invaluable service to his country, and he himself is considered to have had perhaps a predominant
