Mr. R. Swiuhoe on the Ornithology of Northern China. 87 



88. Perisoreus canadensis. 



The well-known " Whisky Jack '' is a constant companion of 

 the voyageui's on their long and wearisome journeys throughout 

 the fur-countries. Everywhere, be it winter or summer, at the 

 camping-place of the sledge-drivers or the more animated mid- 

 day halt of a brigade of boats or canoes, the Canada Jay is sure 

 to give his company uninvited, and feed on any stray bits of 

 " pemmican " or dried-meat he can pick up. Every one who 

 has read the narratives of arctic land-travel, or the more amusing 

 stories of fur-traders^ life, will have heard of the devices put in 

 practice to entrap this inquisitive bird. A very common method, 

 and one which has the advantage of not requiring mechanical 

 aid, is for a man to lie down in the bow of a boat, when made 

 fast to the shore, and covering his head and shoulders with a 

 capot, keep quite quiet, while he holds a piece of pemmican in the 

 hollow of his hand; presently Mr. Jay alights on the stern of 

 , the boat, hops closer and closer, and at last, just as he is in the 

 act of securing the pemmican, the horny hand of the voyageur 

 suddenly closes, and a plaintive squeak announces that his iu- 

 quisitiveness has led the " Whisky Jack " into a man-trap. My 

 specimen (' Ibis,' vol. iv. p. 8) was obtained at Fort Carlton ; Mr. 

 Murray has received one from the coast of Hiidson's Bay, while it 

 is recorded in the ^ Fauna Bor.-Am.' and by Mr. Ross up to the 

 Arctic Circle. The bird figured and described by Swainson as 

 Garrulus hrachtjrhynchus is generally supposed to be the young 

 of the Canada Jay. 



[To be continued.] 



VII. — Additions and Corrections to the Ornithology of Northern 



China. By Robert Swinhoe, Corr. Mem. Zool. Soc. 



(Plate III.) 



To commence with the birds of Talien Bay (for notes on which 



see 'Ibis,' vol. iii. p. 251). 



10. Emberiza rustica. Pall., should be E. cioides, Temm. 

 Faun. Japon ; the same as E. ciopsis, Bp. 



12. Alauda leautungensis, Swinhoe. 

 This bird is closely allied to A. cristata, S. of Europe, but 

 appears to me to be distinct. It belongs to Boie's subgenus 



