Clark's nutcracker 311 



common, are all well chosen, indicating its feeding habits, its discoverer, 

 and the place of its discovery. 



The nutcracker is a mountain bird, ranging from 3,000 feet up to 

 12,000 or even 13,000 feet, according to latitude and season ; its breed- 

 ing range seems to be mainly between 6,000 and 8,000 feet, or from the 

 lower limit of the coniferous forest up to timber line. It is quite widely 

 distributed in the mountainous regions from southern Alaska and south- 

 western Alberta to northern Lower California, Arizona, and New 

 Mexico. 



Nesting. — Many years elapsed after the discovery of the bird before a 

 nest of Clark's nutcracker was found. This was largely due to the fact 

 that the bird breeds at rather high elevations in the mountains and so 

 early in the season that the ground is covered with deep snow, making 

 traveling very difficult, slow, and limited to small areas. At the time 

 that Major Bendire (1895) wrote his life history of the species he 

 was not aware of the taking of any nests and eggs, except the two taken 

 by Denis Gale in Colorado and those that he took himself near Camp 

 Harney, Oreg., in 1876 and 1878. His account of the finding of his 

 nests is rather interesting: 



In March, 1876, I recommenced what looked like an almost fruitless search, 

 in which I had most of the time to tramp through snow from 2 to 4 feet deep; 

 after having examined a great many cavities, mostly in junipers, I was almost ready 

 to give up the task, when I finally examined the pines more closely, and noticed 

 now and then an apparently round ball on the horizontal limbs of some of these 

 trees, which I took to be nests of Fremont's Chickaree, Sciuriis hudsonicus jre- 

 monti, which is very common in this locality. The majority of these supposed 

 squirrels' nests were by no means easily reached, and after trying to dislodge 

 their occupants with sticks, stones, or occasionally with a load of shot, and 

 invariably failing to bring anything to light, I ceased to trouble myself further 

 about them. Being more puzzled than ever, I was about to give up the search for 

 their nests, when, on April 22, after having made more than a dozen fruitless 

 trips, I saw a Clarke's Nutcracker flying quietly and silently out of a large pine 

 about 50 yards ahead of me. This tree had a rather bushy top and was full of limbs 

 almost from the base and was easy to climb. As I could not see readily into the 

 top from below, I climbed the tree. Failing to see any sign of a nest therein, and 

 being completely disgusted, I was preparing to descend when, on looking around, 

 I noticed one of these supposed squirrels' nests placed near the extremity of one 

 of the larger limbs, near the middle of the tree, and 25 feet from the ground ; it 

 was well hidden from below, and sitting therein, in plain view from above, I 

 saw not a squirrel, but a veritable Clarke's Nutcracker. 



Between April 24 and 30 he found a dozen more nests, all contain- 

 ing young. "In the spring of 1877 I commenced my search for nests on 

 March 15, but failed to see a single bird where I had found them com- 

 paratively common during the previous season. Their absence was due 

 in this case to the lack of suitable food. No ripe pine cones were to be 



