CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. 4II 



and Kadiak region, and thence north along the region bordering 

 the Behring sea coast and up the wooded interior. Specimens 

 have been taken at so many points on Behring sea that it appears 

 wherever alder bushes occur to afford shelter. (Nelson.) This 

 bird rarely occurs at St. Michael, two specimens only being procured 

 during three and one-half years' residence. Most of my specimens 

 were obtained at Fort Yukon, Anvik and Nulato on the Yukon river. 

 (Turner.) The Alaskan jay was observed in the vicinity of spruce 

 timber everywhere in the valley of the Kowak, Kotzebue sound, 

 Alaska, from the delta eastward. It was resident throughout the 

 year, and was the most noticeable and familiar bird about camp, 

 especially in winter. (Grinnell.) Occasionally seen in Cook inlet, 

 Alaska. One morning a small flock visited our camp in the moun- 

 tains near Hope. A few were also seen at Tyonek. (Osgood & 

 Heller.) We first met this bird at Log Cabin, noted it also at Bennett 

 and Caribou Crossing, B.C., and found it common from Lake Marsh 

 to Circle City, Alaska, generally in families. Between White river 

 and Circle City it was less common than further up the Yukon. 

 I saw one 15 miles above Fort Yukon, heard several at Hendrick 

 station, August 25th, and saw one at St. Michael, September i8th. 

 (Bishop.) Fairly common in the timber belt, Kenai peninsula, 

 Alaska. (Figgins.) Sheep creek and Moose camp, Alaska. (Ander- 

 son.) Noted at many places in the Alaska peninsula. (Osgood.) 



Breeding Notes. — ^Toward spring the jays became remarkably 

 reclusive, and their visits around camp were less and less frequent- 

 I suspected that by the middle of March they would nest, and I 

 consequently spent much time in fruitless search. On the 20th of 

 March, while out snowshoeing across the valley, I happened to see a 

 pair of jays flying towards a tract of spruces, and as had become 

 almost habitual with me under such incentive, I followed them up. 

 I did not see the birds for some time, until finally I saw a jay with a 

 large bunch of white down in its bill, flying back along the timber. 

 The other bird was accompanying it, following a little behind. I 

 lost sight of them among the distant trees, but by following the 

 general course of their flight and peering into all the thicker spruces 

 I chanced to discover the nest. It was ten feet above the snow in a 

 dense young spruce growing among a clump of taller ones on a knoll. 

 It was as yet a flimsy affair, consisting of dry spruce twigs, with bits 

 of down and feathers, showing through from beneath. Although I 



