TOWNSEND AND ALLEN: LABRAD.OR BIRDS. 387 



"This Jay is an abundant resident throughout the entire region 

 wherever timber is to be found. I observed this bird at Rigolet, 

 Davis Inlet, George's River, Whale River, Fort Chimo, and far in the 

 interior. At certain seasons it is more plentiful than at other times; 

 after August it is very abundant until the next May, and is then very 



scarce until the following September The Indians will not be 



tempted to procure the eggs of this bird under any circumstances. 

 They believe that if a person sees the eggs in the nest, and especially 

 if he counts them, some great misfortune will befall him. Repeated 

 inquiry among them elicited the statement that they had never seen 

 the eggs, and knew nothing about the number laid. 



"Its general habits are similar to those of the other members of this 

 family. It is one of the greatest nuisances the trappers have to con- 

 tend against, and one of these assured me that he had taken fifteen 

 of these birds from a line of less than forty traps in a single day, and 

 with good reason he called this bird a 'wolverine' with feathers on! 



"I have never found the Labrador Jays in flocks, although several 

 may be in the neighborhood, and on a single occasion only I saw five 

 perched in one tree. If a gun be fired it is certain to cause a Jay to 

 investigate it, and I think experience has taught him that food may be 

 procured at such times." 



We saw the Labrador Jay only at Rigolet on July 18th, about six 

 individuals in all, and we procured an adult male and one immature 

 bird. The habits and notes appeared to be the same as in canadensis. 

 We heard them emit a considerable variety of squeaks, whistles, and 

 groans. The young are dark plumbeous in color, and look very 

 much like a large Cat-bird; and they frequently acted in a similar 

 manner, hopping about with their tails cocked up between their wings. 



A young Q taken by us at Rigolet on July 18th, appeared blacker 

 below than a young 9 canadensis taken at Hawke's Bay, Newfound- 

 land on July 8th. In the young canadensis the white cheek line was 

 noticeable, while in nigricapillus it was confined almost entirely to one 

 point at the base of the bill. In canadensis there was a faint white 

 mark on the forehead close to the bill. This was absent and the 

 region almost black in our immature specimen of nigricapillus. 



[Perisoreus canadensis (Linn.). Canada Jay. — The earlier records of the 

 Labrador Jay were entered under this heading and Macoun refers the bird of 

 interior and western Labrador to this form, but in the absence of specimens 

 we have placed it in the doubtful list.] 



