THE CANADA JAY. 



{Perisoreiis canadensis.) 



With mingled sound of horns and bells, 



A far-heard clang, the wild geese fly, 

 Storm-sent, from Arctic moors and fells. 



Like a great arrow through the sky, 

 Two dusky lines converged in one. 

 Chasing the Southward-flying sun ; 

 While the brave snow-bird and the hardy Jay 

 Call to them from the pines, as if to bid them stay. 



John Greenleaf Whittier, "The Last Walk in Autumn." 



Audacious, extremely bold, fearless, 

 cunning, destructive, greedy, amusing, 

 and a thief, are all terms which may be 

 applied to the Canada Jay. It is so well 

 known to the campers throughout its 

 range and so various are its habits that 

 it has been given a number of common 

 names. It is known as Whisky Jack or 

 Whisky John, names which sound like 

 its Indian name Wiss-ka-chon or Wis- 

 ka-tjon and are corruptions of it. Some 

 of its other names are Meat Bird, Veni- 

 son Hawk, Grease Bird, ]\Ioose Bird and 

 Caribou Bird. It has no more appro- 

 priate name, however, than that of Camp 

 Robber, a name by which it is known 

 throughout the length and breadth of its 

 range. That this name well fits this im- 

 pudent bird is shown by the following 

 quotation from "The American Field" : 

 ''He will eat anything from soap to plug 

 tobacco. His appetite and capacity to 

 stow away food is beyond belief. One 

 day we had a dozen large salmon trout 

 hung up to dry, but being absent from 

 camp for a few hours we returned to find 

 four Whisky Jacks had totally annihi- 

 lated our fish. They would fly off with 

 pieces half as large as themselves and 

 in a few minutes return for more. It is 

 not possible they could have eaten it all. 

 I have fed them small bits until they 

 could hardly fly enough to get in a tree. 

 Our pork, soap, tobacco, and other pro- 

 visions were unsafe in their sight and 

 reach. Our Indians used to say: 'Him 

 eat moccasins, fur cap, matches, any- 



tink.' I once snared two of them and 

 put them- in a cage made of birch bark 

 and tamarack roots. Half an hour after 

 their capture they would eat greedily 

 from my hand. He is well named 'Whis- 

 ky Jack,' as I never saw a more insane, 

 drunken-acting creature in my life." 

 One observer of the habits of this Jay 

 relates the following account: While 

 eating his lunch he laid a bag of crack- 

 ers on the ground by his side. A Can- 

 ada Jay, noting this action, flew down 

 to' the bag and entering the open, top 

 began to help itself. The observer 

 quickly grasped the top of the bag and 

 closing the opening caught the Jay. Re- 

 garding the food of this the boldest of 

 all our birds — possibly excepting the 

 chickadee — it may be said that they will 

 devour or at least take and hide every- 

 thing that can be eaten. 



While one writer has said that the 

 Canada Jay does not "possess a single 

 good quality excepting industry," and 

 even though its thieving propensities 

 make it a consummate nuisance, it has 

 perhaps, some redeeming features in its 

 lack of character. Throughout its 

 range, which extends from northern New 

 England, northern New York, northern 

 jMichigan, and northern ^Minnesota, 

 northward to the Arctic regions of 

 America, the Canada Jay is the constant 

 companion of the trappers, hunters and 

 lumbermen who camp in its environment. 

 Its antics and the varied phases of its 

 habits serve as entertainment for them. 



155 



