CANADA JAY. 211 
“CANADA JAY.—CORVUS CANADENSIS. — Fic. 96. 
Linn. Syst. 158.— Cinereous Crow, Arct. Zool. p. 248, No, 137. — Lath. i. 389. — 
‘Le Geay brun de Canada, Briss. ii. 54. — Buff. iii. 117. 
GARRULUS CANADENSIS. —Swatnson. 
Corvus Canadensis, Bonap. Synop. p. a — Garrulus Canadensis, North. Zool. ii. 
: p- 295. 
Were I to adopt the theoretical reasoning ef a celebrated French 
naturalist, 1 might pronounce this bird to be a debased descendant 
from the Common Blue Jay of the United States, degenerated by the 
influence of the bleak and chilling regions of Canada, or perhaps a 
spurious production between the Blue Jay and the Cat Bird; or, what 
would ‘be more congenial to the count’s ideas, trace its degradation. to 
the circumstance of migrating, some thousand years ago, from the 
genial shores of Europe, — where nothing like degeneracy or degra- 
dation ever takes place among any of God’s creatures. I shall, how- 
ever, on the present occasion, content myself with stating a few partic- 
ulars better supported by facts, and more consonant to the plain 
homespun of common sense. 
This species inhabits the country extending from Hudson’s Bay, 
and probably farther north, to the River St. Lawrence; also, in win- 
ter, the inland parts of the District of Maine and northern tracts of the 
States of Vermont and. New York. When the season is very severe, 
with deep snow, they sometimes advance farther south, but generally 
return northward as the weather becomes more mild. 
The character given of this bird by the people of those parts of the 
country where it inhabits, is, that it feeds on black moss, worms, and _ 
eyen fiesh ; when near habitations or tents, pilfers every thing it can 
come at; is bold, and comes even into the tent to eat meat out of the 
dishes; watches the hunters while baiting their traps for martens, and 
devours the bait as soon as their backs are turned; that they breed, 
early in spring, building their nests on pine-trees, forming them of 
sticks and grass, and lay blue eggs; that they have two, rarely three, 
young at atime, which are at first quite black, and continue so for 
some time ; that they fly in pairs; lay up hoards of berries in hollow 
trees; are seldom seen in January, unless near houses; are a kind of 
Mock Bird; and, when caught, pine away, though their appetite never 
fails them; notwithstanding all which ingenuity and good qualities, 
they are, as we are informed, detested by the natives.* 
_The only individuals of this species that I ever met with in the 
United States were on the shores of the Mohawk, a short way above 
the Little Falls. It was about the last of November, when the ground 
was deeply covered with snow. There were three or four in company, 
or within a small distance of each other, flitting leisurely along the 
road-side, keeping up a kind of low chattering with one another, and 
* Huearne’s Journey, p. 405. 
t 
