FAMILY Corvid2. 
Canada Jay Wilson says of this bird: ‘‘ Were I to 
Whisky Jack adopt the theoretical reasoning of a cele- 
Perisoreus : : : 
en aeion brated French naturalist, I might pro- 
L. 12.00 inches nounce this bird a debased descendant 
Allthe year from the common Blue Jay of the United 
States.” But he probably knew, if he did that, his 
powers of discrimination would be open to criticism. 
There is scarcely a mark of similarity between the 
two species, except as they are ornithologically con- 
sidered. The Canada Jay is costumed in Quaker- 
gray, dull-white, and black. Back of the head sooty 
black; back gray; throat and sides of the neck dull 
white; forehead white; wings and tail gray, with 
many of the feathers white-tipped; under parts warm 
gray. Female similar. The plumage is thick and un- 
kempt-looking, resembling, in a measure, that of the 
Chickadee. Nest of coarse twigs and bark-fibre, gen- 
erally lodged well up in a spruce or some other conifer- 
ous tree. Egg white, irregularly speckled with madder 
brown. The bird is decidedly boreal, and is found only 
from northern New England and New York to northern 
Minnesota, which are the southern limits of its range. 
The notes of the Canada Jay are very similar to those 
of the Blue Jay; most of them are harsh or discordant, 
and many have a peculiar wailing character which dis- 
tinctly separates them from the rather sprightly tones 
of the handsomer cousin. My only experience with 
these birds has been on the summits of the White Moun- 
tains, where they are far from uncommon. They are 
naturally the inhabitants of the great coniferous forests 
of the North, and are frequent visitors of the lumber 
camps, where by their sociable habits and fearlessness 
they become very friendly with the lumbermen, often 
feeding from their hands. On the summit of Mt. Os- 
ceola, in Waterville, N. H., on more than one occasion 
the Canada Jay has taken pieces of bread from my fin- 
gers. I have never taken any memoranda of his notes, 
as they were too unmusical to deserve attention; be. 
sides, he is a bird easily identified by his environment. 
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