1862. | OF THE NUTCRACKER. 207 
an expedition to the island, but without finding the special object of 
his search—a nest of the bird. This present spring, however, the 
Pastor, accompanied by two of his friends, HH. Erichsen and Fischer, 
both keen oologists, visited Bornholm a second time; and one of 
their achievements 1 have now the pleasure of making known to 
you. Writing from that island, on the 30th of May last, Herr 
Theobald says :— 
** Returning to the result of our ornithological expedition, I can 
tell you that, after many days’ inquiries, we succeeded in finding two 
nests of Caryocatactes, the young birds flying near them. As we 
presumed, we came too late for getting the eggs; but I think we 
have advanced a good deal, and after this discovery we dare be almost 
sure of receiving them next year. Our gentle and clever host, the 
forester Rosen, who now knows the time and manner of nidification 
of this bird, may be considered a guarantee for our hopes. 
“We have thought it might be of interest to you to possess an 
undoubtedly genuine nest of Caryocatactes, and also a young bird 
in the first plumage; we therefore send you one nest and one skin. 
Both the nests are of the same size and construction. They were in 
fir-trees (Pinus rubra), not very private, but rather easy to find. 
It is likely that the young birds had left the nest perhaps eight days. 
None of them moved, except with difficulty, among the branches ; and 
one of them fell on the ground. The old birds cried, but only some- 
times, with an anxious voice that was not unlike a Magpie’s, and 
then all was silent again. In the neighbourhood of the nest, where 
the birds had been previously observed, we found on the rocky 
ground a good number of freshly cracked hazel-nuts ; and as no nut- 
trees grow there, the birds must fetch them from a distance of an 
English mile at least. We are inclined to think that they collect 
them in autumn and secure them in a private spot ; and perhaps it is 
on this account also that the bird, whose economy is very hidden, is 
seldom to be seen in the breeding-time. 
** As I have already mentioned, the nest is not of the most diffi- 
cult class to find. It is not built on the top [of the tree], but close 
to the stem, about 25 or 30 feet high. The bird is an early breeder, 
but can scarcely have eggs before the beginning of April. 
«Now you have the nest wherein the young birds were lately 
hatched, and a young bird in its first plumage. Next year we hope 
to send you very well authenticated eggs.” 
I have only to conclude by mentioning that the nest, as will be 
seen on examination, is of large size, some five or six inches in thick- 
ness, with an outside diameter of about a foot, and a shallow depres- 
sion of six inches across; but the cup was probably a good deal 
deeper before its brim was subjected to the weight of the young birds. 
It is composed outwardly of sticks and twigs, among which I recog- 
nize those of the larch, spruce, and birch. These latter show the 
period at which it must have been built, as the buds, though enlarged, 
had not burst. It has a thick lining of grass, which appears to have 
been plucked while growing. The very small bits of moss and lichen 
do not seem to have been intentionally added, but to have adhered 
