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Range (Florida of local distribution)

Florida; of local distribution, chiefly along the coasts, between lat. 27° and 30°.

Nest, of sticks and roots lined with weeds and rootlets, in bushes. Eggs, four, olive-green spotted and blotched with black, 1.17 × 75 (Maynard). "The Florida Jays are noisy birds at all times, and the first intimation which one receives of their presence is a harsh scream which is given as a note of alarm. As they usually move in flocks, this cry is taken up by others, and soon the scrub for many rods around will be resounding with these peculiar sounds. When undisturbed they feed on the ground or in bushes, but, upon the approach of an intruder, they will mount the highest point available, where they remain until driven away. They are not usually shy, and will allow one to approach them quite closely, but when one or two are shot the survivors usually disappear. They will glide through the bushes with remarkable rapidity, never once showing themselves, or, if they have an CROWS, JAYS, ETC. open space to cross, dart over it, not in flocks, but singly, and, plunging into the next thicket, they will at once be lost to view" (Maynard). 484. Perisoreus canadensis (Linn.). CANADA JAY; WHISKY JACK; MOOSE-BIRD. Ad.-Fore part of the head white, back of the head and nape sooty black, back gray; wings and tail gray, most of the feathers narrowly tipped with white; throat and sides of the neck white, rest of the under parts ashy gray. L., 12.00; W., 5.85; T., 5-80; B., 82. Range.-Nova Scotia, northern New England, and northern New York; west to northern Minnesota; north, in the interior, to the arctic regions. Cambridge, A. V., one record, Oct.

Nest, of coarse twigs and strips of bark, in coniferous trees. Eggs, four to five, white, distinctly and obscurely spotted with light olive-brown, 1.12 x 81. While studying the habits of birds in the great coniferous forest of the north, I soon found that I was very safe in attributing any new strange shrieks or wails, whose origin I was otherwise unable to trace, to the Canada Jay. Many of the notes resemble those of the Blue Jay, but it has a number that are distinctly its own. Some of these are musical, but most of them are harsh and discordant. In its habits it is much like its blue cousin, but it is less shy, and becomes almost tame if allowed to come unmolested about the camp for a few days in succession. In form it is like a magnified Chickadee, clad in singularly furlike, thick, puffy gray feathers; on its forehead is a white spot, the size of a dime, and its wings and tail are of a much darker gray than the other parts. This description, remembered in conjunction with the habits, will at once identify the species. It nests early in March-that is, while deep snow still covers the ground and hard frost reigns supreme; and no satisfactory explanation of this strange habit has yet been brought forward. No doubt one or other of the parents always remains with the eggs, but still it is difficult to see how they can keep them from freezing when the surrounding air is chilled to 30° below zero. It is a non-migratory species, and it is said that in autumn it provides against the annual famine of winter by laying up a store of nuts and other food.