COUVID.K- THE CHOWS. 257 



SO nearly to tlie WotMlpeckeis as to l)c usually known to tiie settlers as a 

 bird of that trihe. 



He t'uitlier remarks that its tlij^lit much resembles that of Mi/nucrjn.^ tor- 

 qvatiis, and, as it alights from the to]) of a tall dead tree, and sits quietly 

 j^azing around, it mi<,'ht readily he mistaken for one of the Piriila: He 

 describes them as being verj' active in their movements, now ilying from a 

 tree to the ground to pick up some article of food, now exannning tlic exca- 

 vations of an old dead stumj) or snag, or, on being apjnoached, as Hying u]> 

 and alighting ui)on the extreme summit of a tree, out of gunshot. It is a 

 very noisy bird, and its notes are harsh and discorchmt, th(jugh less so than 

 are those of the Steller s Jay, which is generally seen in the same localities. ■ 

 Its usual note is a harsh guttural ihurr-rhnrr, generally uttered wlien two or 

 more alight on the same tree. Occasionally an individual takes uj) a ]»ecu- 

 liar l>iping strain, which is immediately answered by all the otliers in the 

 neighborhood, thus awakening the echoes of the surrounding solitude with 

 their discordant cries. In regard to its nest he can give no positive infor- 

 mation, but thinks that they breed in cavities in old dead trees and stumps, 

 having found a nest in such a situaticm in the East Hund»oldt Mkumtains, 

 which he thinks belonged to a i)air of these birds which were tlying about, 

 and seen to enter this cavity. 



Dr. Newberry, in his lieport on the zoology of his route, states that he 

 found this species rather common along a large portion of it, and was thus 

 enabled to studv its habits at leisure. He found it strictlv contined to the 

 highlands and mountains, never, where he saw it, descending to a lower 

 altitude than about four thousand feet. On the other hand, while crossing 

 the Cascade Mountains at the line of perpetual snow, seven thousand feet 

 above the sea-level, he has seen this bird, in company with the Mclanrqu's 

 torfjuatvs, Hying over the snow-covered peaks three thousand feet above 

 him. 



He first met with this bird on the sjnir of the Sien*a Nevada, near Las- 

 sen's l^.utte, and found it constantly, when in high and timbered regions, 

 from there to the Cohnnbia. He describes its habits as a compound, in 

 about e(iual parts of those of the Jays and of the Woodpeckere. Its cry 

 he si)eaks of as particularly harsh and disagreeable, something like that of 

 Steller's Jav, but louder and more discordant. It seems to cond^ine the 

 shrewdness with all the curiosity of the Jays and Crows, and from its 

 shvness is a verv dithcult bird to shoot, the Doctor never being able to 

 get directly within killing distance of one of them, but only obtaining 

 specimens by concealing himself and waiting for them to approach him. 

 A|)i)arently from excess of caution, it almost invariably alights on a dry 

 tree. Even when going to a living tree for its food, it always flies first into 

 a dry one, if one is near, to reconnoitre, and, if the coast is clear, it begins 

 to fee<l. At the first movement of an intruder, without uttering a note, it 

 puts a safe distance between itself and its enemy. 



vol.. II. 'S'i 



