THE CLARKE'S NUTCRACKER. 



{Nucifraga columbiana.) 



Clarke's Nutcracker has been given a 

 number of popular names, all of which 

 refer to some characteristic or habit of 

 the bird. It is, perhaps, more common- 

 ally called Clarke's Crow ; a name that 

 is quite appropriate, for this species is a 

 member of the family of crows, jays and 

 magpies, and resembles the common 

 crow in some of its habits. It is also 

 called Meat Bird and Moose Bird, while 

 in some localities, because of its "daring 

 and thieving propensities around camp 

 fires," it has been given the very signifi- 

 cant name Camp Robber. 



This beautiful and interesting crow is 

 a resident of the mountain ranges of 

 western North America, from Alaska on 

 the north to Arizona and New Mexico 

 on the south. The species has gregarious 

 habits and as the food supply becomes ex- 

 hausted in one place, the birds travel on 

 to a new feeding ground. It may, how- 

 ever, be considered a constant resident 

 throughout its range, except in the most 

 northern portion, where it is somewhat 

 migratory. In some of its habits it re- 

 sembles the woodpeckers as much or 

 even more than it does the crows. Mr. 

 Frank M. Woodruff, who captured the 

 specimen we illustrate, was at first mis- 

 led by its manner of flight and other 

 habits — he believing that the bird was 

 a woodpecker. Major Charles Bendire 

 had the same experience. He says : "I 

 well remember how elated I was over 

 my first specimen, which I obtained after 

 a long chase through soft, slushy snow, 

 thinking I had secured a new wood- 

 pecker, its undulating flight resembling 

 that of one of these birds very closely." 



Major Bendine has given a very 

 graphic account of the habits of Clarke's 

 Nutcracker in his valuable work on the 

 "Life Histories of North American 

 Birds." His observations are so inter- 

 esting and so well represent the experi- 

 ences of all who have studied this bird, 

 that we give his account in full : 



"Excepting the breeding season, 

 Clarke's Nutcrackers are sociable, in- 

 quisitive, and exceedingly noisy birds, and 



are readily detected on this account when 

 moving about in flocks of a hundred or 

 more in search of good feeding grounds : 

 they are quite omnivorous, and nothing 

 edible is rejected by them. In the win- 

 ter their food consists principally of the 

 seeds of different species of coniferous 

 trees, while at other times it is quite va- 

 ried, including berries of various kinds, 

 beetles, and other insects and their larvae, 

 including butterflies (which I have seen 

 them catch on the wing like a true fly- 

 catcher) and grasshoppers. They also 

 eat the large, wingless black crickets 

 (Anabus simplex), which are exceedinglv 

 abundant and destructive wherever 

 found, overrunning large sections of 

 country and devouring everything green 

 and edible in their way. I have seen 

 flocks of these birds scattered over the 

 sagebrush-covered mesas forming the 

 southern foot-hills of the Blue Moun- 

 tains, in Oregon, industriously engaged 

 in catching these repulsive-looking in- 

 sects and apparently eating them with a 

 relish. They seemed to be especially 

 noisy at such times, calling each other 

 constantly, and having a jolly good time 

 generally. While usually rather shy and 

 not readily approachable within gunshot. 

 I have occasionally seen a few much 

 bolder and more inquisitive than the rest, 

 alighting among my chickens in the back 

 yard, and feeding with them. Thev 

 spend considerable time on the ground 

 in search of food, hopping about from 

 place to place like jays, looking here 

 and there for a choice morsel. They will 

 hang to the bark of a tree precisely like 

 a woodpecker in search of grubs, and 

 again to the underside of a pine cone, 

 like a crossbill, and apparently extracting 

 the seeds with equal dexterity. Their 

 call notes are harsh and far-reaching and 

 consist mainly of a loud, rasping 'chaar, 

 chaar,' which can be heard for a long- 

 distance, and when a number are together 

 the noise made by them becomes rather 

 disagreeable. They do not appear to de- 

 stroy the eggs or young of smaller birds. 



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