In the Woods. 165 



secured five of these birds in the fall of 18S9, and they were rather common. 

 During the summer of the same year, spent at Mountain Lake, Giles County, 

 Virginia, I frequently saw Ravens. 



In the great unbroken forests of Northern New York and Maine, and 

 northward from these points and from Northern Minnesota to the Fur Coun- 

 tries, there is a large and conspicuous bird, known as the 

 Canada Jay. Canada Jay, or Whiskey Jack. In form it is much like 



Perisorcus canadensis (LinnJ. . , ... 



an exaggerated 1 itmouse, and has the same hair-like, 

 downy plumage, so characteristic of the Chickadee. 



The bird is about a foot long, and the general color is gray, relieved by 

 white on the forward parts of the head, the throat, and sides of the neck, in 

 marked contrast to the back of the head and neck, which are black. The 

 back, wings, and tail are gray with whitish suffusion, formed by the white 

 tips of each feather. The chest, belly, and sides are slaty gray. 



The sexes are alike, and the immature are similar to the adults, but the 

 gray is more obscure, and the markings of the head are not clearly defined. 



The birds breed generally in pine trees, building a bulky nest of coarse 

 roots and plant fibres much like that of the Blue Jay. The eggs, usually 

 four in number, are whitish thickly speckled with gray browns of several 

 shades. They are about one inch and an eighth long, and four fifths of an 

 inch in width. 



One of the characteristic and abundant birds of the regions it occupies, 

 this bird has become familiar to hunters and fishermen, and to the lumbermen 

 of the northern pine woods, by its sociable habits and its propensity for pil- 

 fering about the camp. 



The sea-coast of Labrador is the region where this ally of the Canada 



Jay is found. The Labrador Jay is like the Canada in general appearance, 



^ ^ ^ ^ but the black coloring of the head and back of the neck 



Labrador Jay. . ^ , . , j- ^u 



perisor.us canadensis nigri- IS morc exteusive, reachmg to and surroundmg the re- 

 capiiius Ridgw. g.jQj^ about the eye, and the entire bird is darker in color. 



The Scrub or Florida Jay is rather a long, slim bird of a wren-like 

 character, living in thick, dense tangles of low growth known locally as " scrub." 



