24 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



On June 1, at Savage River, Wright and I v^ratched a pair of Alaska jays being 

 chased away from camp by a red squirrel. Every time a jay would alight in the 

 top of a spruce tree near camp the squirrel would look up at the bird, select the 

 proper tree, and would run up the tree and jump at the jay, driving him away. 

 This was repeated many times. If the spruce trees were close together the 

 squirrel would jump from one tree to the next. If this was not possible he would 

 go down and run across on tlie ground climbing the tree the jay was in. After 

 the squirrel had driven the jays away, we saw the former take a bit of food — 

 old discarded cheese — that he had kept hidden in the crotch of a tree. Then he 

 carried it down the tree and hid it under an old rotten log. 



There is considerable competition about the camps among the Alaska jays and 

 red squirrels to see which will get the choicest bits of discarded table scraps. 



On May 26, 1926, a robin was found trying to drive a jay away from its nest. 

 Investigation showed that the jay was doing his best to steal the robin's eggs. 



Early in May 1924 Otto W. G^ist (1936) witnessed a fight between 

 a pair of Alaska jays and a full-grown weasel. Thawing during the day 

 and freezing at night had formed a crust on the snow, but there were 

 some bare spaces and small holes in the crust. He says, in part: 



The snow under the crust was to a great extent "honey-combed," leaving 

 spaces through which small animals such as mice and weasels could find easy 

 passage. 



From not far away I heard the shrieks of birds which seemed to be coming 

 closer. I decided to wait. Soon I saw two Alaska Jays flying from tree to tree, 

 diving frequently at something on the ground. I kept still in order to see what 

 was the matter. Soon a weasel, evidently full grown and still in his white 

 winter coat which, however, was soiled with blood, ran toward a patch of snow 

 directly in front of me and disappeared under it. Both birds were close behind 

 and they rested on a limb of a small tree under which I was standing. * * * 



Both flew excitedly over the patch of snow. They soon returned to the tree 

 and to my astonishment ceased shrieking. All w^s quiet for possibly a minute 

 or more when through one of the smaller holes in the snow there appeared the 

 head and forepart of the weasel. The two birds became highly excited and again 

 flew out over the patch. They would sweep down over the weasel, first one, then 

 the other, striking with its beak. The weasel seemed cowed and ducked low after 

 each strike. There were blood spots on the snow and it seemed to me the birds 

 were doing very effective work. 



I now moved a little closer, but neither the birds nor the weasel seemed to 

 notice me. I talked aloud and whistled but they paid no attention. At times one 

 of the birds would fly out, almost stop over the weasel, using the wings to brake 

 with, and try to see how close he could get to the weasel w-ith his feet. Each 

 time this was done the weasel would stretch out, sticking his head and front 

 of the body into the air. However, he did not seem to snap at the birds. On 

 the contrary, frequently the weasel's mouth was open and it seemed to be panting 

 and fairly well worn out. * ♦ * 



It seemed that not a single movement of the weasel was missed by the birds. 

 At one place where the crust on the snow was thin, the weasel managed to 

 work under and in doing so broke some of the crust- Both birds saw this and 

 flew dovm to the place where the snow moved and crumbled. The fight was on 

 again. The weasel rushed out and made a few jumps, one a very long one of 



