time before in possession of a specimen from Hudson’s Bay. It has no doubt been
confounded with the Common Magpie, Corvus Pica, to which it bears much resemblance.
Pennant in the Arctic Zoology mentions the Magpie as occasionally visiting
Hudson’s Bay, where it is called by the natives the Heart Bird, but he does not
notice any difference in its appearance. Forster, in the Philosophical Transactions
in 1772, also says that the Magpie, then received from Hudson’s Bay, did not
differ from the European one. The Common Magpie is described and figured in
Wilson's American Ornithology, as a rare bird in the United States, and only lately
discovered in the Missouri country ; but as specimens of it have also been received
from Hudson’s Bay, there is little doubt that both species are inhabitants of the
New World. The Hudson’s Bay Magpie is of less size in all its parts than the
Common Magpie, except in its tail, which exceeds that of its congener in length; but
the most remarkable and obvious difference is, in a loose tuft of greyish and white
feathers on the back. The following is a description of the bird under notice :—
length, exclusive of the tail, seven inches ; head, neck, breast, and upper part of the
back pure black ; belly and scapulars white ; the primaries brownish black, partly
white on the inner web ; secondaries and greater coverts dark glossy blue ; across
the back is a tuft of long soft loose feathers projecting above the others, dark grey
below, and tipped with white ; thighs, vent, and tail-coverts black like the upper
parts ; tail truly wedge-shaped (étagée,) from eleven and a half to twelve inches long,
(that of the Common Magpie being from nine to ten inches,) richly glossed with
blue, green, and purple, the two exterior feathers half the length of the two middle
ones, which are two inches longer than those next to them; bill, legs, and claws
black. Two specimens were received, both killed on the 10th of November 1819, at
Cumberland House, being caught in traps ; they were male and female, but there is
no difference in the sexes, except that one rather exceeds the other in length, the one
marked as female, being the largest.
Corvus Cristatus. Blue Jay.
A well-known bird inhabiting all parts of North America, but confined solely to
that country. Linnaeus adopted the bird from Catesby into the Systema Natures ; but
it was not well described until Wilson’s publication, when he corrected the errors of
former writers, and described its habits and manners in the beautiful and delightful
style so peculiarly his own.
Corvus Canadensis. Canada Jay.
The Canada Jay is confined to the northern parts of America, visiting the southern
parts only in very severe weather, as it does not regularly migrate. Wilson only once
saw a few of them together in the United States. His figure of the bird is too highly
coloured. In Canada, these birds are abundant, and well known, being of familiar
manners, approaching the habitations of men, and attending the hunters, to whom
they are troublesome, in taking the baits from their traps. They are named by the
natives Whisky-Jonish, which has been changed by the English into Whisky-Jack.
The bird is small, in comparison of its congeners, and is without the brilliancy of
plumage belonging to other Jays, being particularly plain ; the looseness of its feathers
is further injurious to its appearance.
Oriolus Phemiceus. Red-winged Oriole.
A common bird in Virginia, and in the contiguous parts of the United States, and
well known from the depredations it commits on the crops of Indian corn. These birds
migrate into Louisiana, and the southern districts in the winter, and extend their
progress northward, in the summer, even to the remote parts of Canada. It was
formerly called the Red-winged Starling, and Wilson, from its similarity of manners
to the Common Starling, has placed it in the genus Sturnus. The brilliant scarlet
patch on the shoulder of the wings of the males, contrasted with the general black
of the remainder of its plumage, makes it very remarkable when in flight. The specimen
received is that of a male.
Oriolus Baltimore. Baltimore Oriole.
A male specimen of this pretty and interesting species was taken. The Ornithological
writers of Europe have described a bird of another species (O. Spurius) as
the female, but the error has been corrected by Wilson, whose account of the Baltimore
Oriole is excellent. The male is remarkable for the fine black and brilliant
orange which diversify its plumage, which, in the female, is less splendid, being yellow,
rather than orange, and having less of black than the male. These birds go
southward in the winter, and return to breed in the spring in the more temperate
parts of North America, fixing their abodes for that purpose in orchards and gardens,
contiguous to houses, where they make themselves acceptable by their agreeable song;
their food is principally insects, consequently they are not such troublesome neighbours
as others of the same genus ; the splendour of the males must be a very ornamental
addition to the beauties of an American garden.
Icterus Quiscala. Purple Grackle.
The Purple Grackle, known to the American farmers as the Crow Blackbird,
resides during the winter in the southern provinces of the United States, and moves
northward in the spring even beyond Canada, for the purposes of breeding. The
specimen received, which is that of a male, exhibits beautifully the glossy splendour
of its dark plumage. The Purple Grackles are very injurious to the corn crops in the
United States; in company with the Red-winged Orioles they attack the fields of