BIRDS OF NEW YORK 211 



southward in the winter, but has been taken in Nebraska, Pennsylvania 

 and Massachusetts. In New York State it is confined to the Adirondack 

 district and is scarcely if ever, seen outside the spruce and balsam belt. 

 In the denser portion of this Adirondack forest it is a fairly common 

 resident, both in the spruce and tamarack swamps and on the wooded 

 mountain slopes. While our party was camping in the Mt Marcy region 

 these birds were found at intervals in all the forests from the Ausable 

 lakes to Skylight camp on the slopes of Mt Marcy. 



This jay is known to the northern hunters also under the names of 

 Whiskey jack, Moose bird and Camp robber as well as various other 

 epithets referring to his fearlessness in attacking and devouring any kind 

 of meat or fat which is accessible about the camp. In the winter season 

 it is almost impossible to drive these birds away from the carcasses of 

 deer or other animals which have been killed, and they will enter the camp 

 and hop about the table devouring anything within reach, scarcely giving 

 any attention to the human occupants who are endeavoring to drive them 

 away. This jay is much less noisy than the Blue jay and consequently 

 is a more agreeable attendant of the northern hunter. When following 

 deer through the North Woods I have frequently discovered that these 

 birds were also following me, evidently expecting that I might be suc- 

 cessful in bringing down the quarry, but the only evidence that I had of 

 their approach was the silent flitting of shadows behind me as the birds 

 alighted from time to time in the branches not far above my head. The 

 Canada jay breeds very early in the season, in the Adirondack forests 

 evidently making its nest late in February or early in March. This is a 

 bulky affair and is composed of twigs, rotten wood, bark, and catkins, 

 lined with softer materials of the same kind, especially catkins and feathers 

 from the bird itself. It is usually placed in a small conifer close to the 

 trunk. The eggs are 3 to 5 in number, dull gray, profusely speckled with 

 brown and purplish, the average dimensions being about 1. 15 by .82 inches. 

 The young are out of the nest and flying ab(sut foraging for themselves 



by the middle of June. 

 14 



