CORVID^E—GARRULINJE: JAYS AND PIES. 



501 



Fig. 3o7. —Canada Jay, reduced. (Sheppard del. Nichols so.) 

 H. aud Vermont, the Adirondacks of N. Y., Michi 



Adult $ 9- Gray, paler below than above, whitening on head, neek, and breast; a dark cap 

 on crown, hind head and nape, separated by a gray cervical collar from the ashy-plumbeous 

 back; wings aud tail dark plumbeous, the feathers obscurely tipped with whitish. Bill and 

 feet black. The dark hood not quite black, not extending over auriculars, and scarcely includ- 

 ing the eyes ; the forehead quite white, 

 reaching to the eyes ; the throat aud 

 sides of neck decidedly lighter than the 

 belly and flanks ; tlie back without any 

 distinct whitish shaft-lines. Young : 

 Much darker, sooty slate color, with 

 black face, and an obscure whitish 

 maxillary streak ; the bleaching pro- 

 gresses indefinitely with age. Length 

 11.00-12.00 ; extent about 16.00; wing 

 5.25-5.75; tail rather more, graduated; 

 tarsus 1.33; bill 1.00 or less, shaped 

 like a Titmouse's. Subarctic Am. to 

 the limits of trees, S. into the N. States, 

 X. W. to Alaska; common in some 

 parts of the White and Green Mts. of N. 

 gau, Minnesota, etc. ; breeds in Maine and northward ; resident, and seldom seen south of its 

 breeding range. The " Wisskachon " (whence " Whiskey John " and then " Whiskey Jack '') 

 is noted for the fiimiliarity and impudence with which it hangs about the hunter's camp to steal 

 provisions, for consorting with moose, and for nesting in late winter or early spring, Feb.- 

 March. Young birds may be found flying early in April in the U. S., though eggs may be taken 

 in May in arctic regions. Nest usually on the bough of a spruce or other conifer, a large sub- 

 stantial structure, of twigs, grasses, mosses, plant down, and feathers, measuring 7 or 8 inches 

 across outside by 4 deep, with a cavity about 3.00 X 2.50; eggs 3-4, rarely 5, 1.15 X 0.85, 

 yelldwish-gray to pale green, finely dotted and blotched with brown and slate, or lavender, 

 especially about the larger end ; others more uniformly and largely blotched ; variation wide, 

 as in other Jays, both in size and coloration, the range in length from 1.05 to 1.20. 

 P. c. nigricapil'lus. (Lat. niger, black; cnpillus, hair; meaning black-headed.) Labra- 

 dor Jay. Said to differ from true canadensis in altogether darker coloration, blacker hood, 

 black auriculars, less extensive white or pale smoky front, and more marked contrast of white 

 and dark areas of head and neck. Coast region of Labrador, N. to Ungava Bay. RiDGW. Pr. 

 U. S. Nat. Mus. V, June, 1882, p. 15 ; Man. 1887, p. 359 ; Coues, Key, 3d-4th eds. 1887-90, 

 p. 878 ; A. 0. U. Lists, 1st and 2d eds. 1886 and 1895, No. 484 c 



P. c. fu'mifrons. (Lat. /«»m.<!, smoke; frons, forehead.) Alaskan Jay. Smutty-nosed 

 Jay. Similar: coloration darker and dingier throughout; white of forehead obscured or oblit- 

 erated by smoky-gray. Young differing from the adults as before, but of a dingy brownish- 

 slate rather than blackish-slate as in canadensis proper and c. nigricapillus. Wings and tail 

 averaging a trifle shorter than in the typical form. Alaska, except in the soutliern coast dis- 

 trict ; in the interior melting niio canadensis proper, on tiie coast tlic characters best pronounced. 

 Nesting in March and April. 



P. c. capita'lis. (Lat. capitalis, capital, relating to the head, caput.) RocKY Mountain 

 Jay. White-headed Jay. General color ashy-plumbeous, or leaden-gray, paler below ; 

 wings and tail blackish, with a peculiar glaucous shade, as if frosted or silvered over. The 

 liddy-colnr iriving way on breast and neck to whitish, established as hoary-white on head, iso- 

 lating the narrow well-defined nuchal band of sooty-gray. No white lines cm back ; tail-feath- 

 ers distinctly tipped with whitish, and much edging of the same on wings. The clearer colors 



