[Note: Parts of this entry were previously at camp robber.]
camp robin n esp NW Cf camp robber n
= Canada jay n.
1895 Buffalo Commercial (NY) 6 May 6/3 OR, There were no birds to be seen during the winter, but the last of March a sort of camp robin came round his place, and a lot of grosbeaks. 1907 Washington Herald (DC) 3 Mar sec 3 3/2 AK,The camp robin is an interesting character in his way. He is lead-colored, with a long tail, and is about the size of a robin, with the build of a bluejay. He is a flesh-eater and a natural-born thief, who steals whatever he can get his bill on.1913 Hunter-Trader-Trapper Feb 55 wWA, It was such a fine looking place for marten, on a beautiful smooth ridge, that I shot a camp-robin, or what some call butcher-birds, and we baited one trap with it. 1945 Atwood Rocky Mts. 96, One can hardly lay down part of his biscuit before a knowing camp robin, or “robber,” who has had his eye on it all the time, sidles up to take it off in his bill. 1949 Emrich Wild West Custom 208, Prospectors . . befriended the friendly and curious jay—the “camp robber” or “camp robin”—and the porcupine.