386 APPENDIX G 



also noted near La Biche River on October 30, and on October 

 31 above that point the species was common and noisy, apparently 

 migrating. 



Perisoreus canadensis canadensis (Linn.). Wiskajon or Canada 



Jay. 



The Canada jay is one of the commonest and most widely 

 distributed birds throughout the region covered by our journey 

 north to the tree limit, and was observed almost every day during 

 the entire season, excepting the period when we were on the 

 Barren Grounds. It is one of the most familiar of the feathered 

 inhabitants and its thieving propensities make it at times a nui- 

 sance, yet on account of its trusting ways it is seldom molested 

 by the traveller. It is usually seen in pairs. 



Corvus corax principalis Ridgway. Northern Raven. 



The raven, though much less abundant than its smaller rela- 

 tive, the Canada jay, is even more widely distributed. It was 

 frequently seen as we descended the Athabaska and Slave Rivers, 

 and was noted also on Little Buffalo River. The precipitous 

 rocky islands, which abound in the eastern part of Great Slave 

 Lake, furnish favourite nesting sites, and the bird was noted 

 almost daily during our voyage there, July 17 to 26. It was also 

 observed on Pike's Portage, between Great Slave Lake and Ar- 

 tillery Lake, and was abundant about the latter body of water. 

 Wherever game is killed, numbers of the birds soon collect, and 

 on August 5, near our camp on Artillery Lake, we observed 

 twenty-eight of the birds at once. They had been attracted by 

 the bodies of several caribou which we had taken for specimens. 

 The bird was rather common also on Aylmer Lake, along the 

 northern shore, and at Sandhill Bay, where it was noted 

 August 18 and 20. During our return trip through the chain of 

 lakes to Great Slave Lake, and westward among the islands of 

 that great sheet of water, during late August and September, the 

 bird was observed almost daily. It was abundant also while 



