CBOW 393 



The "Western Crow is locally common in many parts of the San Joaquin 

 Valley, especially along the river bottoms. Small flocks were seen fre- 

 quenting hog pastures at Snelling during the winter of 1914-15. On 

 May 26, 1915, two individuals were observed there in flight overhead and 

 they may have been nesting in the vicinity. Mr. Donald D. McLean has 

 told us that, in the fall, crows occasionally visit the vicinity of Smith 

 Creek, east of Coulterville ; two were shot there in 1914. A mounted 

 specimen exhibited in the Park Superintendent's office in 1919 had been 

 shot in Yosemite Valley at some time within the previous three years. 

 Mr. C. W. Michael (MS) saw two crows feeding on Sentinel Meadow on 

 October 24, 1920. 



Clark Nutcracker. Nucifraga columbiana (Wilson) 



Field characters. — Decidedly larger than Eobin or Blue-fronted Jay, but not so 

 big as Crow. Body plumage light gray; wing black, with large white patch at hind 

 margin; tail white with central feathers black. Habits largely crow-like. Voice: A 

 nasal cawing note, kayr, more or less prolonged, and repeated at irregular intervals. 



Occurrence. — Common resident of Hudsonian Zone on crest and upper slopes of 

 Sierra Nevada. Eanges down locally in certain seasons through Canadian Zone to 

 upper portion of Transition Zone, and up above timber line into Arctic-Alpine Zone. 

 Recorded in summer from 9000-foot ridge between basins of Cascade and Yosemite 

 creeks, and from ridge near Ostrander Rocks, eastward to Warren Peak and vicinity 

 of Walker Lake; also on Mono Craters. Observed in mid-August and September at 

 Glacier Point, in October at head of Yosemite Falls, and in December near Gentrys 

 and near Merced Grove Big Trees. Frequents tops of trees at margin of forest, around 

 meadows, and at timber line. Non-flocking yet socially inclined. 



The bleak upper altitudes of the Yosemite region with their sparse 

 stands of trees and their broad expanses of bare granite suggest strongly 

 the rigorous climate to which the high country is subjected during the long 

 winter season. Despite this forbidding aspect, a rather large permanent 

 animal population is able to maintain itself there through the year. Among 

 the birds in this group of hardy mountaineers none is more conspicuous 

 than the Clark Nutcracker. 



Rarely does the book name of a bird fit so well as in the case of the 

 Clark Nutcracker. The first word of the name makes record of the dis- 

 coverer of the bird, the earliest United States Government explorer in 

 the far west, Captain William Clark (in some current literature spelled 

 Clarke), one of the principals in the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition 

 across the Rocky Mountains in 1805-1806. And the word nutcracker 

 applies excellently to the food-getting habits of the bird. The name Clark 

 Crow has also been used in referring to the species; and some people in 

 the mountains call the bird the Fremont Crow, thus connecting its name 

 with that of another though later explorer who actually reached the moun- 

 tains of California. 



