122 THE CANADA JAY. 



kind of trap. My friend, the Rev. John Bachman, informed me that when 

 residing in the State of New York, he found one caught in a snare which 

 had been set with many others for the common Partridge or "Quail," one of 

 which the Jay had commenced eating before he was himself caught. 



In the winter they are troublesome to the hunters, especially when the 

 ground is thickly covered with snow, and food consequently scarce, for, at 

 such a time, they never meet with a Deer or a Moose hung on a tree, with- 

 out mutilating it as much as in their power. In the Bay of Fundy I 

 observed, several mornings in succession, a Canada Jay watching the 

 departure of a Crow from her nest, after she had deposited an egg. When 

 the Crow flew off, the cunning Jay immediately repaired to the nest, and 

 carried away the egg. I have heard it said that the Canada Jay sometimes 

 destroys the young of other birds of its species, for the purpose of feeding its 

 own with them; but not having witnessed such an act, I cannot vouch for 

 the truth of the report, which indeed appears to me too monstrous to be 

 credited. 



I have often been delighted by the sight of their graceful movements on 

 alighting after removing from one tree to another, or while flying across a 

 road or a piece of water. They have an odd way of nodding their head, and 

 jerking their body and tail, while they emit their curiously diversified notes, 

 which at times resemble a low sort of mewing, at others the sound given out 

 by an anvil lightly struck with a hammer. They frequently alight about the 

 middle of a tree, and hop with airy grace from one branch to another until 

 they reach the very top, when they remove to another tree, and thus proceed 

 through the woods. Their flight resembles that of the Blue Jay, although I 

 do not consider it quite so firm or protracted. 



The Canada Jay breeds in Maine, in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, New- 

 foundland, and Labrador. It begins so early as February or March to form 

 its nest, which is placed in the thickest part of a fir tree, near the trunk, and 

 at a height of from five to ten feet. The exterior is composed of dry twigs, 

 with moss and grass, and the interior, which is flat, is formed of fibrous 

 roots. The eggs, which are from four to six, are of a light grey colour, 

 faintly marked with brown. Only one brood is raised in the season. I 

 found the young following their parents on the 27th of June, 1833, at 

 Labrador, where I shot both old and young, while the former was in the act 

 of feeding the latter. 



The young, which was fully fledged, had no white about the head; the 

 whole plumage was of a very deep slate colour, approaching to black, except- 

 ing the ends of the tail feathers, which were of a sullied white, the lower 

 mandible almost white. The bill was (of course) shorter than that of the 

 old bird, more dilated at the base, the bristles there proportionally shorter. 



