SOME BIRDS OF THE YELLOWSTONE 



131 



floor of the nest and remain there mo- 

 tionless. Should one be picked up, he 

 is like a lump of putty and can be 

 placed in any posture. Nothing but the 

 parent's cry of "All 's well," perhaps 

 not given until an hour or more after 

 the warning, will bring him back to the 

 semblance of a living bird. 



The mountain bluebird is of a beau- 

 tiful blue, indeed; even the breast is 

 blue instead of the chestnut of the east- 

 ern bird. This bird is not quite so do- 

 mesticated as the better known species, 

 but otherwise is much the same. About 

 the few buildings in the Yellowstone 

 the bluebird nests as fearlessly as about 

 an eastern farm ; but buildings are 

 scarce, and many bluebirds still follow 

 their old-time plan of building a nest in 

 the trunk of a quaking asp. It is a 

 pretty sight to see a pair hunting a 

 nesting place in early May. The hus- 

 band is the scout; he goes ahead and 

 locates a likely tree with an old wood- 

 pecker hole in it. Then he brings his 

 wife, no doubt telling her how superior 

 the tree is to all other trees, and the 

 neighborhood to all other neighbor- 

 hoods, and perhaps calling attention to 

 the running water in the near brook. 

 She hovers for a few minutes in front, 

 looking the opening, the tree, and the 

 neighborhood all over, and when she 

 makes up her mind it is final. Should 

 it be "No," the husband does not sulk 

 l)ut immediately hunts another tree 

 over which he is just as enthusiastic. 

 Should the answer be "Yes," they both 

 set to work to collect materials, but I 

 believe that she places most of it while 

 he cheers her on with his gentle love 

 song. When the bairns arrive, all is 

 hustle and bustle. For a time, I do be- 

 lieve that they are the busiest parents 

 alive. Vast, indeed, is the number of 

 grasshoppers and caterpillars caught to 

 satisfy that hungry nestful. 



At the other extreme is the nut- 

 cracker, or Clark's crow; nothing soft, 

 nor gentle, nor musical about him ! 

 But perhaps our ears are not properly 

 attuned to appreciate the rolling 

 "c-crack-k-k-k" with which he an- 

 nounces his presence. His uniform of 

 gray with flashes of black and white is 

 neat and attractive, and his ready adap- 

 tability to conditions should win our 

 respect. This species seems more abun- 

 dant about Mammoth Hot Springs 

 than anywhere else; presumably the 

 large supply of pine cones, as well as 

 the kitchen scraps, draws the birds 

 there. Sometimes the nutcracker, by a 

 swift, sudden swoop, robs a squirrel of 

 his cone. The squirrel may be knocked 

 from his perch, but even if he keeps his 

 footing he is almost sure to drop the 

 cone. A sudden dive and the nutcracker 

 has it, perhaps before it touches the 

 ground. Now the pine squirrel, him- 

 self, is an impudent fellow, a noted 

 thief and robber; but well he knows 

 that the bird can best him. He sneaks 

 back into some protecting cranny and 

 then proceeds to enliven the woods by 

 the vituperation he hurls at his enemy ; 

 and that enemy is not slow to give back 

 his unfavorable opinion of squirrels in 

 general, and of that squirrel in particu- 

 lar. I am sure that I should not dare 

 to attempt a translation of those vitri- 

 olic remarks. 



Impudent rascal and freebooter that 

 he is, the nutcracker is never quite so 

 happy as when a fight is going on. I 

 even suspect him of engineering difficul- 

 ties for other birds. One day two lit- 

 tle mountain bluebirds got into an al- 

 tercation. They were hard at it, when 

 the nutcrackers began to arrive, scream- 

 ing. One became so excited that he 

 flew into a wire fence and partially 

 stunned himself. Nor does the nut- 

 cracker alwavs confine his attentions to 



