212 NOTES ON CALIFORNIA ANIMALS. 



hi^'h tluou-li the tops of the i)iiic.s. None were observed amoii!^- the 

 conifers of JMoiiut Lassen, but in December, 1885, numerous bauds 

 were met witli in the Humboldt redwood forests. 



Corvus corax sinuatus (Wagl ). American Haven. 



The Kaven I only saw on one or two occasions at Red Bluff. It is re- 

 corded by other observers as a common species of all parts of the coun- 

 try except the high mountains, and was collected at Fort Crook by 

 Lieutenant Parkinson. On the coast, however, about Humboldt Bay 

 it was constantly present. California Kavens appeared to be scarcely 

 more than half the size of those 1 obtained in Xorthern Alaska, and 

 certaiidy had not half the vocal power of the Alaskan birds, which are 

 remarkably loud-voiced. 



Corvus ameiicanus And. American Crow. 



An abiyidant, constant resident of the U[)per Sacramento Valley, oc- 

 casionally wandering- into the higher foot-hills. It was seen on two or 

 three occasions in the hills about Baird, but was not observed anywhere 

 in the high mountains. Early in May Crows were breeding everywhere 

 in the timber belts south of Eed Bluff. Their nests always contained 

 four eggs, and neither nests nor eggs differed in any way from those ot 

 the common eastern Crow, although the birds themselves were inva- 

 riably found to be much smaller. They exhibited none of the pro- 

 verbial wariness of eastern Crows, and were always easily obtainable. 

 On one occasion, tinding it necessary to economize ammunition, 1 poi- 

 soned wheat with strychnine, hoping to obtain specimens thereby, but 

 although sick Crows were noticed in the vicinity for several days after- 

 ward, only one died from the effects of the poison. 



Picicorvus columbianus (Wils.)- Clarkc/s XuUrac.kcr. 



My most ]>leasurable memories of bird collecting in California arc 

 insei»arably connected with the time spent in hunting the Nutcracker 

 along the timber-line of :\[ount Shasta. Hi^h up on the lonely mount- 

 ain, where the dark pine forest gives place to scattered trees and 

 stunted shrubs, where tracts of pumice and ashes, marking old vol- 

 canic liows, lie strewn with lava bowlders, and where common bird life 

 languishes, is the home of the Nutcracker. Such a locality is desolate 

 enough, but is not without its grander asi)ects ; for from the somber 

 ibreground the picture widens out into vistas the sublimity of which 

 becomes iiulelibly stamped upon the imagination. On one side and 

 below are the forests stretching downwards and away tarther than the 

 eye Ccau see, affording glimpses of scenery only surpassed in grandeur 

 by the view on the other side, where the snowy peak rises glistening 

 in the sunshine far above. 



In the thin air of this high latitude— nine or ten thousand feet— any 

 but the slowest walking is too exhausting to be continued long, and as 

 the Nutcrackers are observant and shy, it is not an easy matter to shoot 



