whisk(e)y jack

whiskey jack (US) or whisky jack (Canada) (WHIS-kee-DJAK) - n., the gray jay (Perisoreus canadensis) of North American coniferous forests, having gray plumage and a black-capped head.


Also called Canada jay, moosebird, and camp robber, the latter for its boldness in stealing food from camps, houses, and so on. Lives in coniferous forests throughout Canada and the Rocky Mountains, as far south as central Arizona and New Mexico. The name is either an alteration of obsolete whisky-john, from Cree wiskatjân/wîskacân/wiiskachaan (by which we can tell that either there's no one standard for transliterating from that language, or there are several dialects), or directly from Cree wîskicâk.


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---L.