THE CANADA JAY. 



^ri> AANY will recognize the 

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Canada Jay by his local 

 names, of which he has 

 a large assortment. 

 He is called by the 

 guides and lumbermen of the Adiron- 

 dack wilderness, " Whisky Jack " or 

 " Whisky John," a corruption of the 

 Indian name, " Wis-ka-tjon," "Moose 

 Bird," "Camp Robber," "Hudson 

 Bay Bird," "Caribou Bird," "Meat 

 Bird," " Grease Bird," and " Venison 

 Heron." To each of these names 

 his characteristics have well entitled 

 him. 



The Canada Jay is found only in 

 the more northern parts of the United 

 States, where it is a resident and 

 breeds. In northern Maine and 

 northern Minnesota it is most common; 

 and it ranges northward through the 

 Dominion of Canada to the western 

 shores of Hudson Bay, and to the limit 

 of timber within the Arctic Circle east 

 of the Rocky Mountains. 



Mr. Manly Hardy, in a special 

 bulletin of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 says, " They are the boldest of our 

 birds, except the Chickadee, and in 

 cool impudence far surpass all others. 

 They will enter the tents, and often 

 alight on the bow of a canoe, where 

 the paddle at every stroke comes 

 within eighteen inches of thein. I 

 know nothing which can be eaten that 

 they will not take, and I had one 

 steal all my candles, pulling them out 

 endwise, one by one, from a piece of 

 birch bark in which they were rolled, 

 and another pecked a large hole in a 

 keg of castile soap. A duck which I 

 had picked and laid down for a few 

 minutes had the entire breast eaten 

 out by one or more of these birds. I 

 have seen one alight in the middle of 

 my canoe and peck away at the car- 



cess of a beaver I had skinned. They 

 often spoil deer saddles by pecking 

 into them near the kidneys. They do 

 great damage to the trappers by steal- 

 ing the bait from traps set for martens 

 and minks, and by eating trapped 

 game. They will sit quietly and see 

 you build a log trap and bait it, and 

 then, almost before your back is turned, 

 you hear their hateful " Ca-ca-ca," as 

 they glide down and peer into it. 

 They will work steadily, carrying off 

 meat and hiding it. I have thrown 

 out pieces, and watched one to see how 

 much he would carry off. He flew 

 across a wide stream and in a short 

 time looked as bloody as a butcher 

 from carrying large pieces ; but his 

 patience held out longer than mine. 

 I think one would work as long as 

 Mark Twain's California Jay did try- 

 ing to fill a miner's cabin with acorns 

 through a knot hole in the roof. 

 They are fond of the berries of the 

 mountain ash, and, in fact, few things 

 come amiss ; I believe they do not 

 possess a single good quality except 

 industry." 



Its flight is slow and laborious, 

 while it moves on the ground and in 

 trees with a quickness and freedom 

 equal to that of our better known 

 Bluejay. 



The nesting season begins early, 

 before the snow has disappeared, and 

 ther-efore comparatively little is known 

 about its breeding habits. It is then 

 silent and retiring and is seldom seen 

 or heard. The nest is quite large, 

 made of twigs, fibres, willow bark, and 

 the down of the cottonwood tree, and 

 lined with finer material. The eggs, 

 so far as is known, number three or 

 four. They are of a pale gray color, 

 flecked and spotted over the surface 

 with brown, slate gray, and lavender. 



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