MAGPIES, JAYS 



(484) Perisoreus canadensis 

 canadensis 



{Linn.) (Gr., I heap up or treasure). 



CANADA JAY. A sombre colored 

 species as shown. Back, wings and 

 tail dark gray; forehead, sides of 

 head and throat white, shading into 

 ashy-gray on the under parts; nape 

 sooty-brown. L., 12.00; W., 5.85; 

 T., 5.80; B., .90. Ncst — Oi twigs, 

 moss and feathers, in coniferous 

 trees at low elevations; three or four 

 grayish eggs, spotted with brown. 



Range — Boreal zones from Me., 

 northern N. Y. and Minn, northward. 

 Casual in Mass., Pa., and Neb. 

 LABRADOR J A Y (P. c. nigri- 

 capillus) has all the gray and black- 

 ish areas much darker than the pre- 

 ceding. Found in Ungava, Labrador, 

 and Newfoundland. 



one small zero. Inhabiting, as they do, territory that is 

 less settled and where there is less gunning than our Blue 

 Jay is accustomed to, they are much bolder. They furnish 

 a great deal of amusement as well as annoyance to lumbermen 

 and campers, for they always hang about the tents watching 

 for a chance to swoop on any unprotected article. Anything 

 edible, even down to soap, and any bright objects of small 

 size are exultantly seized upon and borne off to their caches. 

 Even though they may peck at the shoes of a camper, pull 

 pieces from the deer that the hunter is skinning, or alight 

 on a canoe within a few feet of the paddler, to inspect its 

 contents, they are always on the lookout for their own safety, 

 and the slightest untoward mo\-ement sends them away 

 screaming with wrath. They hop about with great agility 

 among branches or on the ground, but their flight is rather 

 slow and with rapid beating of the wings. They nest 

 early, in March or April, while the ground is coA-ered 

 with snow. The nest is made of twigs, feathers, bark, and 

 catkins. 



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