326 PERCHERS AND SINGERS 



tain parks, "rim-rock," "slide-rock," pines and cedars bravely 

 climbing up steep acclivities, gloomy canyons and rushing 

 streams of icy-cold water below all. 



I first made acquaintance with this bird while hunting elk 

 and mountain sheep, on a fearfully steep mountain side, with 

 a magnificent panorama spread out below. It greeted me in 

 friendly fashion with the rasping "Kurr, Kurr!" which, when 

 heard amid such surroundings is not soon forgotten. It has 

 been my misfortune, however, never to see the remarkable 

 habit thus graphically described by Mrs. Florence Merriam 

 Bailey in her delightful "Handbook": 



"Living mainly on the crests of the ranges, the birds fly 

 to the high peaks to get the first rays of the sun, and when 

 warmed go for food and water to the lower slopes. Their 

 method of getting down is startling at first sight. Launching 

 out from a peak, with bill pointed downward and wings 

 closed, they drop like a bullet for a thousand feet, to the 

 brook where they wish to drink. Sometimes they make the 

 descent at one long swoop, at other times in a series of pitches, 

 each time checking their fall by opening their wings, and 

 letting themselves curve upward before the next straight drop. 

 They fall with such a high rate of speed that when they open 

 their wings there is an explosive burst which echoes from the 

 canyon walls." 



The head, neck and body of this bird are uniform ashy 

 gray, and the wings and tail are black, with a white patch 

 half way down the former. The Nut-Cracker is really a small 

 crow, twelve inches long, and much resembles the common 

 gray and black crow of Europe. It is found in all the moun- 



