366 BIKDS — CORVID^. 



small birds in their assault upon a belated owl, himself the noisest of 

 the crowd ; but no sooner does the unfortunate owl find a quiet retreat 

 than our hero quickly disperses his army by imitating the cries of the 

 Sparrow-hawk, and not seldom taking advantage of the confusion to 

 plunder a nest. In this vicinity, for several years past, they have been 

 less nume'rous than twenty years ago, but have apparently increased in 

 numbers the past two or three years. 



The nest of the Jay is built of twigs and fibrous roots. It is generally 

 placed in a tree at varying distances from the ground, sometimes in 

 bushes. The eggs are usually five, olive-drab, thickly spotted with olive- 

 brown. They measure 1.10 by .85. 



A remarkable instance of conservative adaptation, revealed by acci- 

 dent, and possible only among birds, is to be found in a communication 

 to the Family Visitor, Vol. 1, 1850, 32, over the signature " C." 



"A Blue Jay, -with its wing broken, was bronght to me one day to stutf, but as I was 

 nnable to do it then I kept it till the next day. It would hop about the room vocifera- 

 ting in its loud, harsh manner, skulking in corners, and trying to hide under chairs, but 

 when caught biting fiercely the fingers exposed to it. Wishing to kill it without injur- 

 ing the akin or disarranging its feathers, I attempted to strangle it by compressing its 

 neck firmly so that the windpipe was entirely clesed, and in this manner I held it for 

 several minutes without its presenting' any appearance of suffocation or inconvenience, 

 and its thorax contracted and expanded regularly. Putting it down on the floor, it 

 hopped off into a corner, screaming and scolding as usual. I was sadly puzzled to 

 account for this, till at length I thought of its wing, and on examining it I found the 

 large bone (humerus) broken, and through this it had breathed. After I stopped np 

 this orifice, and compressed the windpipe again, it was suffocated in a few moments. 



Sub-order Clamatores.* ]S"on-m;elodious Passeres. 



FAMILY TYRANNID^. THE FLYCATCHERS. 



First primary lengthened, often longest, at least over two-thirds as long as the longest. 

 Bill broad at the base, much depressed, tapering to a flue point, which is abruptly de- 



Pbrisoreus canadensis (L.) Bp. 



Oanada Jay. 



Perisoreus canadensis, Whbaton, Ohio Agrio. Eep. for 1860, 367 (error) ; Addenda, 480 

 (correction) ; Reprint, 1861, 21 (probable). 



Corvua canadensis, LiNNiE0S, Syst. Nat., i, 1766, 158. 

 Perisoreus canadensis, Bonapakte, List, 1838, 27, 



The Canada Jay was named as an Ohio bird, in my catalogue of 1861, by an error which 

 was corrected in the appendix and reprint. Its nearest locality, so far as known to me, 

 is Lewis Co., N. Y., where it has been found breeding in considerable numbers by Dr. 

 Merriam. 



