i8 THE CLARK NUTCRACKER. 



No. 5. 



CLARK'S NUTCRACKER. 



A. O. U. No. 491. Nucifraga columbiana (Wils.). 



Synonyms. — Clark's Crow. I'lxi; Ckhw. Gray Crow. "Camp Robbkr." 

 (Thru confusion with the Gray Jay, Pcrisurciis sp.). 



Description. — Adults: General plumage smoky gray, lightening on head, 

 becoming sordid white on forehead, lores, eyelids, malar region and chin ; wings 

 glossy black, the secondaries broadly tipped with white ; under tail-coverts and 

 four outermost pairs of rectrices white, the fifth pair with outer web chiefly 

 white and the inner web chiefly black, the remaining (central) pair of rectricps 

 and the upper tail-coverts black ; bill and feet black ; iris brown. Shade of gray 

 in plumage of adults variable — bluish ash in freshly moulted specimens, darker 

 and browner, or irregularly whitening in worn plumage. Young like adults, but 

 browner. Length 11.00-13.00; wing 7.00-8.00 (192); tail 4.50 (115): bill 1.60 

 (40.7) : tarsus 1.45 (36.8). Female smaller than male. 



Recognition MarJvs. — Kingfisher size ; gray plumage with abruptly con- 

 trasting black-and-white of wings and tail ; harsh "cliar-r" note. 



Nesting. — Nest: basally a platform of twigs on which ^s massed fine strips 

 of bark with a lining of bark and grasses, placed well out on horizontal limb of 

 e'^Kgreen tree, 10-50 feet up. Eggs: 2-5, usually 3, pale green sparingly flecked 

 and spotted with lavender and brown chiefly al)Out larger end. Av. size, 1.30 x 

 .91 -(33x23.1. Season: JMarch 20-April 10; one brood. 



General Range. — Western North America in coniferous timber, from 

 .'\rizona and New Mexico to Alaska ; casual east of the Rockies. 



Range in Washington. — Of regular occurrence in the mountains thruout 

 the State. Resident in the main but visits the foothills and lower pine-clad levels 

 of eastern Washington at the close of the nesting season. 



Authorities. — Corvus colunibianus. Wilson, Am. C)rn. iii. 181 1, 29. T. 

 C&S. D'. D^ J. E. 



Specimens. — ( U. of W'.). Prov. E. C. 



NO l)ir(!-I(i\-er can forget his first encnunter with this singular Oid-Bird- 

 of-the-Mountains. Ten to one the bird brought the man up standing by a 

 stentorian cliar'r'r. char'r'r, char'r'r. which led him to search wildly in his 

 nieni(ir\- whether Rocs are credited with voices. It the bird was particularly , 

 concerned at the man's intrusion, he presently revealed himself sitting rather 

 stolidly on a high pine branch, repeating" that harsh and deafening cry. The 

 grating voice is decidedly unpleasant at close quarters, and it is quite out of 

 keeping with the unquestioned sobriety of its grizzled owner. A company 

 of Nutcrackers in the distance finds frequent occasion for outcry, and the 

 din is only bearable as it is softened and modified by the re-echoing walls 

 ct some pine-clad gulch, or else dissipated bv the winds wliich sweep over 

 the listening glaciers. 



