whisk(e)y jack

[prettygoodword]

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.


Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.

Comments

[dewline]

There are at least a half-dozen branch dialects - is that even the correct word? - of the "Cree" language that have survived contact with European nations and their settler-state successors-in-treaty. That's my understanding. I grew up largely in what would be called "Plains Cree" or nēhiyawēwin territories.

[prettygoodword]

Given the size of Cree territory on maps, I should not be surprised by many dialects ...

[loup_noir]

New to me, and I'm a birder. We have Gray Jays/Canada Jays in our area. Most years, they come through our place right about now.

[prettygoodword]

I knew the moosebird name, even down here in the southern Rockies where there are no moose, but this one was new to me as well -- I came across it in a couple 19th century Canadian poems. It is possible it's not as common as it once was.