Shanghai, April 18—The name "Jay" is very loosely applied to many birds and might be said to be given to any bird having a reputation for mischief and wickedness. The true Jay of China (Garrulus sinensis) is not seen in Shanghai, but I have seen it often as near to us as Hangchow: thus, as we have no true Jays in this city, it is quite natural for people to call our Pied Magpie a Jay, and to refer to our beautiful Azure-winged Magpie as the Blue Jay. In America many similar birds are referred to as Jays: their Common (or Blue) Jay is also called "Corn Thief" and "Nest Robber" while there is another so-called Jay who actually accused of being an addict to alcohol he is the Canada Jay, otherwise known "Whiskey Jack" because, in the quaint parlance of the country, "he always looks and acts fuddled"; he is also affectionately referred to as "Camp Robber" because he literally steals the bacon from under the noses of his admiring American "friends. All of which reminds me that birds of the Jay type are said by the negroes of the Southern States to disappear every day at the hour of the siesta in order to consult with their particular friend, the Devil, concerning future mischief, and that they are seen sneaking out of the woods on their return from Hell somewhere about first-drink time
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.