AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 203 



usually composed of twigs plentifully sprinkled with moss, bark and 



catkins; it is usually lined with fine fibres and downy feathers and often 



larger feathers are worked in the outside perhaps for ornament. In 



March or April they lay three or four grayish eggs spotted with brown 



and gray; size 1.15 x .80. 



HABITS. 



From the name by which this bird is commonly known, such as 

 "Whisky Jack," "Moose Bird," "Camp Robber" and scores of others, 

 the character of these Jays can well be imagined. They have all the 

 bad traits common to our well known Blue Jay, and, like him, have no 

 redeeming virtues except their beauty, vivacity, audacity and sense of 

 humor. I believe no bird has the sense of humor so keenly developed 

 as the Jay or his relative, the Crow. They like to play tricks on any- 

 body or anything, and will cackle with glee when anything particularly 

 pleases them, but when the joke is on them they usually show their 

 appreciation in squawks of anger. Living as they do, in sparsely settled 

 regions, the Canada Jays are very tame as compared to ours; con- 

 sequently their actions are more often noted and commented upon. 



They are thieves of the first order, and their knavery is not confined 

 to the theft of eatables but they will take anything that they can lay their 

 hands, or rather their bill upon. If there is anything in sight that is 

 especially valuable to mankind and absolutely worthless to them, they 

 will exercise their wits to acquire it. They are the constant companions 

 of hunters, trappers and lumbermen in the northern woodland and watch- 

 ing them at their antics is one of the chief sources of amusement of these 

 men. They will enter a camp, go right inside the tents and carry off 

 everything, edible or not, and what is too large they will tear to pieces 

 and carry off in sections. They will work like beavers carrying articles 

 away and storing them in crevices under the bark of trees or even un- 

 der leaves, and, from my observations of Jays, I think they remember 

 the location of everything they conceal and dig it up at some future 

 date. They eat carcasses, pelts and skins frequently annoy trappers 

 by taking the bait from their traps or damaging the skins of animals 

 that they have caught. Their food consists largely of flesh when it can 

 be obtained and, like the Blue Jay, they rob the nests of other birds of 

 their young and eggs. At other seasons of the year they eat berries, 

 acorns, buds and seeds of all kinds. They are practically resident 

 wherever they are found and usually commence nesting long before 

 the snow is off the ground. The nest shown in our illustration was 

 found in March when the mercury registered thirty-two degrees below 

 zero. It is a typical nest and is plentifully adorned with grouse feath- 

 ers. 



