388 THEOUGH THE MACKENZIE BASIN 



inner cup is two and one-half inches in width by one and one- 

 quarter inches in depth. The nest, a well-built structure, 

 is composed of rotten grass fibres, fine roots, and pieces of 

 willow bark, and is warmly lined with similar materials, 

 caribou hair and old cocoons. It was found by an Eskimo, 

 and the female was snared on the nest, which contained three 

 eggs when taken. The eggs of this species are mostly ovate in 

 shape, less often elongate ovate. The shell is close-grained, 

 rather strong, and shows little or no gloss. The ground colour 

 is mostly drab gray, sometimes grayish white ; in an occasional 

 specimen a faint greenish tint is perceptible, which fades 

 out in time. The entire surface of the egg is profusely 

 blotched and sprinkled with different shades of pale brown. 

 In some specimens the markings are bold and well defined; 

 in others they are minute, giving the egg a pepper-and-salt 

 appearance; and again they are almost confluent, causing 

 a uniform neutral brownish appearance. In some speci- 

 mens the markings are heavier and become confluent only 

 about the larger axis of the egg, forming a wreath and 

 leaving the ground colour on the smaller end of the egg 

 plainly visible ; in fact, there appears to be an endless varia- 

 tion in colour and markings as well as in size among these 

 eggs, and scarcely any two sets are exactly alike." 



There are but six skins and one set of three eggs, taken 

 June 9th, 1900, at Artillery Lake, north-east of Great Slave 

 Lake, by Bishop Lofthouse, of Kenora, in the Ottawa 

 Museum ! 



484. Canada Jay — Perisoreus canadensis (Linn.). 

 On 28th March, 1880, Chief Trader W. S. Simpson, 

 then in charge of Green Lake post, English Kiver district, 

 found a nest on a stout tree in the midst of a dense thicket 

 of pine brush, three feet only from the ground. It was com- 

 posed of small twigs, dry grasses, mosses and feathers. It 

 contained five fresh eggs. The parent was snared on the 

 nest. Mr. Dalgleish received two eggs safely, but unfor- 

 tunately the other three got broken on the way to Scotland. 



