Letters, Extracts, Notices, S^c. 475 



tures after Nutcrackers' nests in Lower Austria, near Lilien- 

 feld. As is well known, the difficulty witli this bird is that 

 it breeds very early in the season, before the winter's snow 

 is off the ground in the inclement regions which this bird 

 frequents, and, indeed, it begins to nest while fresh snow is 

 still falling. After several unsuccessful attempts, Herr 

 Pfanni began a new search on the 17th March, in a large 

 pine forest in which he had seen young Nutcrackers the 

 previous summer, and in which he was therefore pretty cer- 

 tain that this bird must breed. In spite of the trees being 

 covered with fresh snow and the great cold, many trees with 

 nests in them were found and ascended. But most of these 

 nests appeared to be old squirrels' dreys. The next day, in 

 the same forest, after several hours' search, he discovered 

 what appeared to be in all probability a two-years old nest 

 of the Nutcracker. It was placed on a pine about 15 feet 

 from the ground, and corresponded in every way to un- 

 doubted nests of Nutcrackers that had been taken in Switzer- 

 land. But this was as far as could be got on the 18th and 

 19th of March. On the 20th came a warm day, and the 

 snow disappeared from the trees. The morning was spent in 

 rain in a neighbouring wood of mixed trees. In the afternoon 

 Herr Pfanni resolved, as a last resource, to devote himself 

 to a steep south-eastern sloping hanger, in which patches of 

 pine- forest were mixed with other trees and clearings. At 

 2 o'clock he left the house, and after a walk of three quarters 

 of an hour began the search, taking one group of pines after 

 another. He had been at work about half an hour, when at 

 a lighter spot in a clump of firs he observed above him a 

 thick place in the foliage which appeared to be a nest, and 

 on cai'cful observation descried what appeared to be a bird's 

 tail protruding therefrom. Upon pelting the nest with snow- 

 balls, the tail suddenly vanished and the head and bill of a 

 Nutcracker appeared in its place. When his excitement at 

 this discovery had somewhat cooled down, Herr Pfanni 

 endeavoured to frighten the bird off her nest by clapping his 

 hands. This manoeuvre proving ineffectual, he climbed up a 

 neighbouring beech tree to about the same height as the 



