312 BULLETIN 191, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



found, on the hulled seeds of which the young are at first exclusively 

 fed." The following year, 1878, the birds were back again in their old 

 haunts, and he found his first nest on April 4; it was near the ex- 

 tremity of a small limb of a pine about 40 feet from the ground. "All 

 of the nests found were placed in nearly similar situations, on horizontal 

 limbs of pines, Finns ponderosa, from 15 to 45 feet from the ground, in 

 rather open situations at the outskirts of the heavier forests, and usually 

 on side hills with a southeasterly exposure, at an altitude (estimated) 

 of from 5.000 to 5,500 feet." 



He describes an average nest as follows: 



The nest proper is placed on a platform of dry twigs, mostly those of the 

 western juniper, Juniperus occidenfalis, and of the white sage, averaging about 

 three-sixteenth of an inch in thickness, and varying from 8 inches to a foot in 

 length. These twigs, which also help to form the sides of the nest, are deftly 

 matted together and to the smaller twigs of the limb on which the nest is saddled; 

 they are further held together and bound by coarse strips of the inner bark of the 

 juniper tree; these strips are mixed among the twigs and are very suitable for 

 this purpose. The inner nest is a mass of these same bark strips, only much 

 finer, having been well picked into fine fiber; it is quilted together with decayed 

 grasses and pine straw, forming a snug and comfortable structure. No hair or 

 feathers entered into the composition of any of these nests. The outer diameter 

 measures from 11 to 12 inches by about 7 inches in depth; the cup is from 4 to 5 

 inches wide and 3 inches deep. The quilted inner walls are fully V/t inches 

 thick; it is quite deep for its size, and the female while incubating is well hidden. 

 Nest building must occasionally begin in the latter part of February, but more 

 frequently in March, and it appears to take these birds some time to complete one 

 of these structures. Both parents assist in this, as well as in incubation, and the 

 male is apparently equally as attentive and helpful as the female While they are 

 noisy, rollicking birds at all other times, during the season of reproduction they 

 are remarkably silent and secretive, and are rarely seen. 



Both of Mr. Gale's Colorado nests were placed in low, scrubby pines, 

 Pinus ponderosa; one was only 8 feet from the ground in a tree 20 feet 

 high; and the other was 9 feet up in a 12-foot tree. Several other 

 Colorado nests have been reported by W. C. Bradbury (1917b), who sent 

 H. H. Sheldon to the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Range, in 

 Saguache County, for two seasons in succession to collect nests and eggs 

 of this species. A number of nests were found, mostly containing young 

 even in March and April. Most of the nests were in pinyon pines at 

 heights ranging from 8 to 16 feet; one was in a juniper at 8 feet and 

 another in a large fir at only 7 feet above ground. 



In Mono County, Calif., James B. Dixon (1934) found five occupied 

 nests of Clark's nutcracker on April 9 and 10, 1934; three of these 

 held young and two held eggs. "All of the nests were in juniper trees 

 on steep slopes at the 8000-foot level and contrary to our expectations 

 were located in the coldest spots, where the snow stayed on the ground 



