20 THE CLARK NUTC kACWiU. 



crossed iiiaiulihles t<> lever ■•ik.mi the scales, hut instead, feet and claws, 

 tiiat serve the [nirixise of hands, aiul a ]x»\verfnl i)ill like a small crowbar. 

 To use the crowlKir ti> advantage the cone needs steatlying, or it would 

 snaj) at the stem and fall; to accomplish this one foot clasjw it. and the 

 |x>werful claws hold it lirnily, whilst the other ftM>t encircling the branch, 

 suppirts the bird, either back downward, head downward, on its side, or 

 upright like a wiKxli)ecker, the long clasping claws l)eing efpial to any 

 emergency; the cone thus fixed and a firm hold maintained nn the branch, 

 the seeds are gouged out from under the scales." 



These Nutcrackers are among the earliest and most hardy ncsters. 

 Thev are i>ractically inde|)endent of climate, but are foun<l during the 

 nesting months — March, or even late in February, and early April — only 

 where there is a hx'al abundance of pine (or fir) seeds. They are artfully 

 silent at this season, and the impression prevails that they have "gone to 

 the mountains"; or, if in the mountains already, the presence of a dozen 

 feet of snow serves to allay the ocilogist's suspicions. 



The nest is a very substantial affair of twigs and bark-strips, heavily 

 lined, as befits a cold season, and placed at any height in a pine or tir tree, 

 without noticeable attempt at concealment. The birds take turns incubating 

 and — again l)ecause of the cold scascm — are very close sitters. Three eggs 

 are usuallv laid, of alxuit the size and sha|>e of Magi)ies' eggs, but nuich 

 more lightlv colored. Incubation. Rendire thinks. lasts sixteen or seventeen 

 days, and the voung arc fcil solely nn hulled pine seeds. ;it the first, pre- 

 sumably, regurgitated. 



If the Corvine aftinilies i>f this bird were nowhere else betrayed, they 

 might be known from the hunger cries of the young. The imjjortunate ailh. 

 ai'ili. inlli of the exi)ectant l>autling. and the subserpient j^iilh'i. guUu. 

 gullu of median deglutition (and Ixmndless satisfaction) will always serve 

 to bind the Crow, Magpie, and Nutcracker together in rme coni|)act group. 

 When the youngsters are "ready for college," the reserve of early spring 

 is set aside and the hillsides are made to resound with much practice of 

 that uncannv yell before mentioned. Family groups arc gradually obliterated 

 and. along in June, the birds of the f«x)thills Itegin to retire irregularly 

 to the higher ranges, either to rest up after the exhausting lalx»rs of 

 the season, or to revel in midsummer gaiety with scores and hundreds of 

 their fellows. 



