Note 2 — Chapter I · MYTHS AND FOLK-LORE OF THE TIMISKAMING ALGONQUIN.

The trickster-transformer Wiske·djak “meat bird” is the personified Canada Jay or “Whisky Jack” (Perisoreus sp.). He is not in the least altruistic, though he seems to have in mind some provision for the Indians, as appears more particularly in story number 4. For the most part his transformations are semi-accidental. It seems hardly worth while at the present time to comment in detail on the transformer concept here, as it is my intention to pursue investigations further in this general area, in which the transformer appears under various titles. At Timagami, for instance, he is called Nenebuc or wi·ske·′; at Mattagami, he is We·′micuze·‵hwa or Nenebuc. The name Wiske·djak and its variants seem to be more or less characteristic of the Algonquin bands, in which respect they resemble the Cree.2 A secondary hero personage here is Ci′ŋgəbis, the Horned Grebe (Colymbus auritus).