It commands attention for its peculiari- 

 ties are well worth studying. One never 

 knows what it will do next. As it does 

 not seem to fear man, it easily becomes 

 tame. Mr. Ernest E. Thompson, who 

 has had the companionship of the Can- 

 ada Jay at numberless camps in the win- 

 ter woods of the Northwest and has had 

 an excellent opportunity to study its hab- 

 its, says: "I have fed it with scraps 

 placed in such situations that its cour- 

 age would be sorely tried before "it could 

 secure the dainties. Once I laid a piece 

 of meat on the snow between myself and 

 my companion. After one or two ap- 

 proaches the bird rushed in and seized 

 the morsel. Then I laid a piece between 

 myself and the fire some six feet away ; 

 this also was taken. Finally I stuck a 

 piece on the end of the pot stick, which is 

 a stout stick propped up so that it af- 

 fords support to a kettle over the fire; 

 and although by so doing the bird had to 

 fly down within six inches of a hot clear 

 fire, without hesitation it dashed in and 

 secured the prize. Long experience has 

 taught it that a camp is a sure place for 

 a feast, and as soon as the ax is brought 

 into play to prepare the fire-wood it is 

 usual to hear the responsive 'tay tay' 

 of the Wiskachon approaching from 

 some distant part of the timber." 



Though the Canada Jay does damage 

 many pelts obtained by the trapper, by 

 eating holes in them, and is constantly 

 pilfering all the eatables of the camp 

 within reach of its bill, these are, per- 

 haps, not its worst sins. It is well known 

 that this Jay will destroy the eggs and 

 young of other birds. Mr. Edward A. 

 Samuels says : "I once knew of a single 

 pair of these birds destroying the young 

 in four nests of the common snowbird 

 {J unco hyemalis) in a single day. I 

 found these nests in an old abandoned 

 lumber-road on the morning of June 

 twentieth; in the afternoon, when I re- 

 turned through the same path, every 

 nest was depopulated; and a pair of 

 these Jays were lurking in the trees, 

 shouting defiance at us, while surrounded 

 by the afflicted snowbirds that were ut- 

 tering their cries of complaint and sor- 

 row." 



The common call-note is not unlike 

 that of our well-known blue jay but in 

 addition, the Canada Jay has several 



other notes which are its own. Mr. 

 Thompson says that some of these are 

 ''the melancholy sobs and wails which, 

 sounding so uncanny among the gloomy 

 evergreens, have surrounded the bird 

 with an atmosphere of mythic interest. 

 Almost the only musical sound that I 

 have heard it utter is a metallic 'chuck 

 chuck/ not unlike that of the robin." 



While it is loquacious at all other 

 times this Jay, like the other members 

 of the family, during the breeding season 

 dislikes publicity and is a silent and re- 

 tiring bird. Though it moves about 

 upon the ground and in the trees with 

 ease and facility, it flies in a laborious 

 manner by almost constant flapping of 

 the wings. 



The Canada Jay nests very early in 

 the spring. Low temperature and the 

 presence of snow and ice does not deter 

 it from building its nest, laying its eggs 

 and incubating them. Mr. Thompson 

 says there is no doubt that "one or the 

 other parents always remain with the 

 eggs, but still it is difficult to see how 

 they can keep them from freezing when 

 the surrounding air is chilled to thirty 

 degrees below zero." Mr. Dugm.ore has 

 described its nest as "composed of twigs 

 and strips of bark, with a thick lining 

 of moss and feathers, and it is placed in 

 a fir tree close to the trunk, at no very 

 great distance from the ground." The 

 down and catkins of the cottonwood 

 trees, and its own feathers are also used 

 in the construction of the walls of the 

 nest and in the lining. 



Say what we will regarding the repre- 

 hensible habits of the Canada Jays, if 

 they were removed from the vast conif- 

 erous forests of the North, they would 

 be sorely missed by the hunters, trap- 

 pers and lumbermen whose companions 

 they are during many lonely hours in 

 the midst of the deep snows of winter. 

 They are not migratory birds and are 

 supposed to store a supply of food for 

 the barren time of winter. This would 

 certainly seem necessary, for "four or 

 five fluffy little Jays, that look as if they 

 were dressed in gray fur, emerge from 

 the eggs before the spring sunshine has 

 unbound the icy rivers or melted the 

 snowdrifts piled high around the ever- 

 greens." 



156 



