THE CANADA JAY. 
57 
The Canada Jay is a very plain and unpretending 
bird, being the only species of those we have named 
which is destitute of a brilliant plumage ; its predom- 
inating colors being a dull slate and drab, with occa- 
sional markings of black. It inhabits the State of 
Maine, Nova Scotia, and New' Brunswick, and in 
winter a few individuals are seen as far southward as 
Pennsylvania. It is abundant in the Canadas and 
Labrador, and has been found in the vicinity of Fort 
Astoria, on the Columbia river. It becomes very 
familiar with the wood-cutters of Maine, entering 
their camps on very social terms, and helping itself 
to such pieces of flesh as are within its reach. These 
wood-cutters sometimes “ amuse themselves in their 
camp during their eating hours, with what they call 
i transporting the carrion bird/ This is done by cut- 
ting a pole eight or ten feet in length, and balancing 
it on the sill of their hut, the end outside the en- 
trance being baited with a piece of flesh of any kind. 
Immediately on seeing the tempting morsel, the Jays 
alight on it, and while they are busily engaged in 
devouring it, a wood-cutter gives a smart blow to the 
end of the pole within the hut, which seldom fails 
to drive the birds high in the air, and not unfre- 
quently kills them/’* 
Prince Maximilian’s Jay was first discovered in 
the Rocky Mountains by the celebrated naturalist 
whose name it bears, while travelling in the interior 
of North America. In form and general appearance, 
as well as in other important particulars, it differs 
* Audubon. 
