564 THE BIRDS OF MANITOBA THOMPSON

the ardor of his devotion to the

demure

little qnakeress

by

his side

demands

a

more

ambitious demonstration; so, ceasing to sing, he strenuously endeavors to associate with thewhite piling cumuli,

and

having soared, apparently, near

enough

to be uncomfortably

damp,

while tous he appears a

mere

speck, he floats on vibrating wings, singing a song

composed

of a single note, oft ret)eated with lessening intervals; it

may

be suggested by thesyllables triclc, trick, trick, trick, trick, trick,

trr

r-r-r-rr-rrr^'' the notes at last all running together like the

drumming

of a partridge.

During

this performance he has lost

much

ofhis altitude, butatonce proceeds to regainit by aseries of bounds before again repeating the song. This alternate soaring

and

singing is usually kept

up

for over ten minutes, then the musi- cian, having exhausted his energy, suddenly stops

and

dashes

down

withonefrightful headlong pitch, right into the grass.

Upon

going to the spot one is surprised tofind he has notbeen dashedto atoms

by

the violence of the^fall, butsprings up,uttering his usualcall note,

and

flitsfurther off, again to settleon the ground.

The

wholeof this performance will be seen to resemble very closely the serenade of the Missouri Skylark, the chief difference being that theShore

Lark

isinferiorinmusicandstayingpowers,

and

also inthat the latter remains

more

nearly over one particular place.

Another

point of dissimilarity is, the Shore

Lark

sings chieflyon the ground, while the skylark confines hiseff"usiousalmostentirely to his

moments

of physicalelevation.

The

Shore

Lark

is theearliestof the prairiesingers to begin in the morning, being even a little earlier than the

Meadow

Lark; it com-

mences

before thereis

any

sign ofdawn,

and

at nightitcontinuesuntil theplains are envelopedin perfect gloom.

But

singingwill not multiply thespecies,

ami

thetwolittle

"Quak-

ers,"as theyare often called, set about nesting ere yet the

snow

is

gone.

Not

seeking the shelterof bush or bank, butright outon the open prairie, on the level, they scrape a holeabout an inch deep, then

lineitwith grass

and

perhaps afeatheror

two

fromtheirmortalenemy, thehawk. In thisarelaid four or five

brown

eggs, freckled all over.

This specieshas a curioushabit,in

common

^{with the}

Bay

wingBunting, ofrunning on the road just before one

and

flying a little further on

when

overtaken.

The

Shore

Lark

doesnot usually repeat the

maneuver more

thantwiceorthrice,

and

frequentlyitsuddenlysquatsand remains so until nearly within reach,

when

it springs

up

utteringitstriple call-

note

and

flies

away

to one side.

My

observationsincline

me

to believe that in Manitoba the species raises

two

broods eachseason.

157a. Otocoris alpestris. Shore Lark.

Fall migrant. Specimens of the true alpestris were taken

by

myself at

Rat

Portage

and

atCarberryinthe fall (Thompson). Severn

House

:

Itappears

common

^(Murray).

^°i89a"']

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 566

158. Pica pica hudsonica. American Magpie.

Rare,

and

found chieflyin the west. Rare; resident In the

woods

about

Lake Winuipeg

^; havea single specimen taken 30 miles east of

Brandon

(Hiue).

One

at

York

Fort (Hutchins). I

have

noticedthese in western Manitoba only (Hunter). I

was

informed that this bird

was

not

uncommon

inthe

woods

near the Assiniboina River, 20 or30 mileswestofPortagelaPrairie,about fifteenyears ago; but sincethat they have entirely disappeared (Nash).

Have

been toldof its occur- renceatFortBllice in the winter of 1S8L; did notseeit;

Upper

Assini- boine, September 27,1881 ^(Macoun).

At

Fourth Lake, Qu'Appelle:

"Magpies

arevery

numerous

in the thin

woods

fringing the lakes,"

1858 (Hind). Qu'Appelle: Occasional;plentiful100 miles north (Guern- sey). Onlystrayindividualspassing tothe eastwardofthe Mississippi or of

Lake

Winnipeg. ^{* * *} Itdoes notentirelyquit the banks of the Saskatchewan, even in winter (Richardson).

Magpie

first seen on the 7th of October at Mosquito Point, wheretheBelted Kingfisher

was

lastseen; observed occasioually atCarlton, whereitresidesin the winter; not seen between Hudson's

Bay and Lake Winnipeg

(Blak- iston).

She pe cum memewuck. the Magpye of Peununt. This bird breeds in trees;

are plentyintheinteriorparts of thecountry, andafewarefound nearthe south- ern settlements. In

my

twentyyears residenceinHudson's Bay,Ineverknewthem migratetoYorkFortorSevern; onlyonewascaughtinamartentrapatYorkFort.

Idon'tthinktheymigrateanydistance, asourpeoplemet theminlandatallseasons.

(Hutchius'sMSS.,Observationson Hudson's Bay, 1782.) 159. Cyanocitta cristata. BlueJay.

Tolerably

common summer

residentinwoodlands; very

abundant

at

Pembina

(Coues).

Pennawa

River, September, 1857 (Hind). Breed- ing near

Lake Wiuuepeg

(D. Guun).

Swampy

Island: 1885,

common,

resides permanently; they go tothe south end of the island in sum-

mer

to breed (Pluukett).

Winnipeg: Summer

resident; tolerably

common

(Hine).

Oak

Point: Arrived

May

29, 1885; firstseen,aflock of eight that flewoverhead on

May

24; next seen, threeon

May

25;

a letter to Professor

Cooke

mentions that (February 6, 1885)

two

remained allwinter about the place,

and became

quite

tame

(Small).

Ossowa:

Common;

breeding; 1885, last seen,one on October19

(Wag-

ner), Portagela Prairie:

Common;

resident; the majority leavethis locality in the winter, but I have seen

some

in every

month

in the year(Nash). Carberry: Tolerably

common summer

residents; breed- ing.

Rat

Portage: October (Thompson). Arrives early in April, departslate in

November

(

W.

G. A. Brodie).

Found

at

Red Deer and Swan

Rivers,

September

2, 188L (Macoun). Shell River: 1885, first seen, two,on

May

15; next seen, three,on

May

24,goingnorth; atran- sient visitant; not breeding here (Calcutt}^ Qu'Appelle: Tolerably

common summer

resident; arrives

May

(Guernsey).

A

specimen

566 THE BIRDS OF MANITOBA THOMPSON.

from

Red

River Settlementiu Smithsonian Institution ; I noticed the absence of ^it on theroutebetween

York

Factory

and Lake Winnipeg

(Blakiston). .

160. Perisoreus canadensis. Canada Jay. Whisky Jack. Wis-Ka-tjan.

Common

residentin

wooded

sections, especially

among

evergreens.

Winnipeg:

Summer

resident; tolerably

common

^(Hine).

Red

River Valley:

Common

resident; they breed here(Manitoba)in the

month

of

March

(HunU'r). ResidentlocallyatPortagelaPrairie; very scarce (Nash).

Very abundant

in all the

wooded

country

examined

in 1881 (Macoun).

"Whisky Jack numerous

onthe Scrub

Oak

Ridge,"near

Dauphin

Lake,October 9 (Hind,1858). Carbcrry:

Common

resident;

breedsiu the spruce

woods

tothe south;

Duck

Mountain;

Two

Creeks, on

Upper

Assiniboiue;

Rat

Portage,

abundant

(Thompson). Shell River: 1885; wintervisitant (Calcutt). Severn

House

(Murray).

Com- mon

^atCarleton (Blakiston).

On

October 13, 1883, at

Two

Creeks, westside of Assiniboine,1

was awakened

in the morning by a

Whisky-Jack

screaming close to

my

head.

One

or

two

of these birds have been in attendance ateach of our

camps

^since

we came

to thiscomparatively

wooded

region, to feast onthe

camp

^scraps, which

we

have always been careful to put where the birds could^easily getthem.

On June

11, 1884, at

Duck

Mountain, I found the

young Whisky-

Johnsfollowing their parents through the woods.

One

ofthese, which

I shot,

was

all over of a verydark bluish gray, tingedonthewings

and

tail with a glaucous shade, which at once reminded

me

of therelation- shipexisting between this bird

and

the Blue Jay.

The

noises which thisfamily

made

were curious

and

varied. I have long agolearnt to ascribe to this speciesany

unknown

squeaksor wailsthat areheardin a spruce wood.

Novembers: Whisky-Johns came

as usual to our

camp

fireto day.

They

helped themselves to scraps but a few feet from me,

and

ulti-

mately one alighted on thepot stick

and

tookotit" a scrap of

meat

that

I leftthere, although it

was

but afoot above a hotclearfire.

While moose

hunting on

December

6

we

had crawled close toaherd,

when

suddenly the loud screamingofthe

Whisky-Jack was

heard,

and

before

we

could get a glimpseof

them

the moose

had

sought safety in tlight.

During thenumberless times that Ihave

camped

inthe winter

woods

of the northwest, I have hardly everfailed tohave the

Wiskachon

for acompanion. Sometimes I

have

been

awakened

inthe

morning by

the melancholy wailing of the bird a few inches from

my

head.

Many

a time Ihave fed it with scraps placed insuchsituationsthatitscourage would be sorely triedbefore it could secure thedainties.

Once

Ilaida piece of

meat

onthe

snow

between myself and

my

companion. Afterone ortwo approachesthe birdrushed in

and

seizedthe morsel.

Then

Ilaid

^°i89o'"']

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 567

apiece l>etween myself

and

tlie fire

some

6 feet

away;

thisalso

was

takeu. Finally I stuck a pieceon the eud of the pot stick, which is a stout stick propped

up

so that it affords support to a kettle over the

fire;

and

althoughby so doingthe bird

had

to fly

down

within6inches of a hot clear fire, without hesitation it dashed in

and

secured the prize.

Long

experiencehas taught ^it thata

camp

is asure placefora feast,

and

as soon as the ax is brought into play to prepare thefire-

wood

itis usualtohear the responsive "tay tay" of the

Wiskachon

ap- proaching from

some

distantpart of the timber. This callnote of the speciesis

much

like the ordinary cry of the BlueJay,butithasseveral others that are distinctivelyits

own;

thisincludesthemelancholysobs

and

wails which, sounding so

uncanny among

the

gloomy

evergreens, have surrounded the bird with an atmosphere ofmythicinterest. Ac- cording to ArchbishopTache,

Wesakedjan

^is the

name

ofthe coot

and

of the fabulousbeing

who

takes part inallIndian legends.

Almost

the only musicalsoundthat1have heard itutterisametallic "chuclccliuck^^''

not unlike that produced

by

the robin.

The

unmusical notes are so

numerous

thatoneis almostsafe to attribute to the

Wiskachon

anyun- accountable screamsthat

may

beheard within thepresenceofaspruce woods.

lu thewinterof 1881-'82Isawoneof these birdsat Burnsidei, about12milesfrom PortagelaPrairie,theonly one I ever observed near there. InDecember, 1884, I

fonudthemabundantintheRiding Mountains,where they exhibited allthe famil- iarityusuallyattributedtothem.

InOctober,1886, twoorthreefrequented thewoodsonthebankoftheRedRiver, butthosewereall Ieversawiuthat neighborhood.

Nearlyallwritersrefertothe harsh notes ofthis bird,bat omittomentionthat^it hassomeremarkablypleasing onesalso, muchresembling thoseoftheBlackCapTit butrather louderthanit utterswhentravelingabontinsmallparties,andalsowhen

aloneif itfeelsparticularlypleasedwithitself.

Icanquiteunderstand

why

trappers should dislike this bird, asitoftendoes alot ofmischieftothe skin ofany animalthatitmayfinddeadinasnare,byeating holes init; butit isa greatfavoriteof mine, andwill always bewelcome to

my

camp, in spiteofhispettypilfering ofeatables. (Nash,inMSS.)

161. Corvus coraxprincipalis. Northern Raven.

Tolerably

common

winter visitant_; probably nesting in the northetn lands. Tolerably

common

winter resident along the boundary (Coues).

Winnipeg: Winter

visitant; tolerably

common

^(Hine).

At Lake Win-

nipeg (Kennicott).

Eed

River Valley: Resident, tolerably

common more

seen in winter than in

summer

(Hunter).

"And

ⁱⁿ the spruce

swamps

were several ravens," October 9; near Scrub

Oak

Ridge,

Dauphin

Lake, Plains of the Souris, July (Hind, 1858). Portage la Prairie:

Very

scarce; permanentresident; inFebruary, 1882,1

saw

one about4 miles westof the cityof Winnipeg,

and

on

December

17,1884, I

saw two

in the

Reding

Mountains (Nash). Carberry:

Noted

onlyin winter;

Rat

Portage,

common

in fall (Thompson).

Not

observed in the Winnepegosis region, but frequent in the

Western

Plains (Ma- coun). Qu'Appelle: Occasional (Guernsey).