42 



THE GRAY JAY. • 



Tlif ImiitiT kiK'us llicni for arcli syci>pliaiUs, and lie is occasionally able to 

 trace a w inindcd <lecr, or to hxrate a carcass by tlie movements of these 

 e.\|)ectant heirs. Says Mr. A. W. Anthony": "While dressing deer in the 

 thick timljer I have l)ecn almost covered with Jays flying down from the 

 ncighljoring trees. They would settle on my back, head, or shoulders, tugging 

 anfl pulling at each loose shred of my coat until one woul<l think that their 

 only cdijcct was to help me in all ways ]>3ssible." 



In the higher latitudes "Whisky Jack," in spite of carefully secreted 

 stores, often l)ecomes very emaciated in winter, a mere bunch of Ijones 

 a n d feathers, u> 

 heavier than a Re 1- 

 poll. While the Jays 

 of inir kindlier dime 

 do not feel so keenly 

 the l)elly pinch of 

 winter, they have 

 the same thrifty liab 

 its as their northen 

 kin folk. Food i 

 never refused. an<l 

 well - stuffed speci 

 men will still carr\ 

 grub from camp an<! 

 secrete it in bark 

 crevice or hollow 

 against the unkiiovwi 

 hour of need. 



T have never he.ird 



the Gray Jay titter more than a soft cooing uhcc cw repeated at random; 

 but Rcndire credits it with a near approach to song"*; and Mrs. Bailey says 

 of the Jays on Mr. Hood"^: "Their notes were pleasantly varied. One 

 call was remarkably like the chirp of a robin. Another of the common- 

 est was a weak and rather complaining cry rc|)eated several times. A 

 sharply contrasting one was a pure clear whistle of one note followed 

 by a three-syllabled call .something like Kn<i.r-iili. The regular rallying 

 cry was still different, a loud and striking two-syllabled ka-7i'lit'r." 



The eggs of the Gray Jay have not yet l)een rc|)orted from this State, 

 but it is known that the bird builds a very substantial nest of twigs, grasses, 

 plant fibre, and mosses without nnid. and that it provide-; ;i bc.Tvv lining of 



/■/,../,. fcj / ;;. BcKtUi. 



A B.ACIIELORS PET. 



X Thr .^uk. Vol. III., 1886. p. 167. 



b. r.ife Hi»toric9 of .\. A. Birds, Vol. II., p. 394. 



c. Handbook Bird» of the Wrjtcrn V. S., pp. 178-9. 



