CANADA JAY. 
14I 
York, and Michigan. Near Ottawa, and in the Muskoka district 
of Ontario, it occurs regularly, though it is not abundant. In Oc- 
tober, 1889, one example was taken at Arlington Heights, near 
examined a nest taken near Edmundston, New Brunswick, on 
April 7 1883, at which date the country there was covered with 
snow and ice. The nest was placed on a small tree near the main 
hio-hway, and not many hundred yards from the railroad station. 
As the cold in that region is intense, the temperature often being at 
_ 30° to — 40° F. in midwinter, it is surprising that the eggs are 
ever hatched. But the nest is made very warm, and the birds sit 
close, and when one parent steps off the other at once steps on. 
By the first of June the young are in full feather and taking care 
of themselves. . r -i- 1 
Nuttall’s opinion that these birds appear bold and familiar only 
when pressed by the hunger of winter, has not found support in my 
experience. Frequently when camping in the Ne\v Brunswick 
woods during the summer vacation I have seen numbers of these 
birds gather about my camp-fire within a few minutes after it has 
been lighted; and they did not hesitate to pick up a piece of meat 
thrown toward them. Several other observers, however, have re- 
corded a similar opinion to Nuttall’s; and it maybe that the fearless 
birds are restricted to localities where they are not disturbed. 
The Canadian hunters and lumbermen have _ a .superstitious 
respect for these birds, fearing the ill-luck that is said to result 
from killing one, and Whiskey Jack may have discovered that. 
Note. — The Labrador Jay (S. canadensis nigrtcapilus') 
differs from true canadensis in being darker in general coloration. 
It is restricted to the coast region of Labrador. 
