Nov., 1900] BIRDS OF THE KOTZEBUE SOUND REGION. 41 



This sound could be heard a long distance through the quiet woods, giving notice 

 of the whereabouts of the woodpeckers, but on account of the soft deep snow and 

 tangled underbrush, they were not easy to follow up even with snow-shoes on. 

 On April 26th a freshly-dug hole was discovered in a dead spruce. Chips were 

 scattered about on the snow beneath, a good hint to obser\'e in locating a nest. A 

 bird appeared in the vicinity and his call was answered by one in the distance. 

 The call-note consisted of several abrupt cries uttered together in quick succession, 

 thus much like that of the Nuttall's Woodpecker. This excavation was not com- 

 plete, and as I failed to visit the place again, I lost my only opportunity to 

 observe the nesting habits of the species. The eskimo call this bird Top'yuk. 



Perisorais canadensis fumifrons Ridgw. 

 Alaskan Jay. 



The Alaskan Jay was observed in the vicinity of spruce timber everywhere 

 in the valley of the Kowak from the delta eastward. It was resident throughout 

 the year, and was the most noticeable and familiar bird about camp especially in 

 winter. When we first arrived at the site of our permanent camp in the latter 

 part of August, the tents were pitched on the sandy river bank just above the 

 water-line. The cook-tent opened facing the 'dining' tent, leaving a passage 

 way between scarcely three feet wide. When I was at work over the stove in the 

 cook-tent, the door-flap was generally thrown back, and a pair of jays visited me 

 regularly several times a day. First one and then the other would fly to the 

 tent-ropes at the side of the passage-way and then onto the ground within the 

 tent, or quite as often onto the table where they found plenty of bread-crumbs 

 and scraps of bacon. They were particularly fond of cheese. At one side of the 

 room was a cheese-box with the cover partly ofl". The}^ soon discovered this, and 

 it was very entertaining to watch them peck at the hard cheese, now and then 

 dislodging a chunk. If both birds got to the cheese at the same time, a scufiie usu- 

 ally ensued in which one of the birds was driven out of the tent. At night the 

 tent-door was closed; but one morning I found both birds in the tent greatly fright- 

 ened. They had squeezed under the edge of the canvas and were unable to find 

 their way out. The taniene.'^s of these jays was remarkable. They would alight at 

 one's feet or on a tent-rope within an arm's length, fluffing out their soft plumage 

 till they looked twice their usual bulk, and peering calmly up at one,, or search- 

 ing about for scraps of food. They had not probably ever been disturbed by 

 white men, and the natives for some superstitious reason never molest them. But 

 it does not require a great amount of experience to teach a jay some things. The 

 prospectors called them caiiij) robbers, and did not hesitate to repay their tame- 

 ness l)y shooting them for the dogs. After we moved into our cabin, the jays be- 

 came less familiar, and rs other cabins were l)uilt in our neighborhood, their visits 

 were divided and I did not see so much of them. The jays certainly lived well 

 through this winter, for the dump-pile was well supplied with crumbs and frag- 

 ments of other focd too small for the dogs to pick out. One day I saw a jay peck- 

 ing at a piece of laundry soap, eating several bills- ful and at last trying to fly off" 

 with it. They carried the greater part of their spoil into the woods somewhere, 

 but I could never locate their store-house, if they had any special place. I found 

 several through the winter caught in my mammal traps and usually frozen to 



