452 



the vent and rump, those on the upper part of the throat being long and narrow, not drop-shaped as 

 elsewhere ; crown and nape unspotted uniform blackish chocolate ; rump very slightly spotted ; under 

 tail-coverts pure white ; wings black, on the outer web of the inner primaries and secondaries glossed 

 with greenish black, some of the latter with very small white spots at the tip ; tail glossy black, on the 

 central feathers narrowly, and on the outer ones broadly terminated with white ; legs and bill black ; 

 iris dark brown. Total length about 12 inches, culmen 2-2, wing 7*75, tail 5-5, tarsus 1-85. 



Female. Undistinguishable from the male in plumage. 



Nestling (Bornholm, May 1862). Head, neck, back, and underparts generally dull dirty brown, each 

 feather having the shaft dirty white, which colour in many widens at the tip into a drop- shaped spot, 

 all these feathers being very loose in texture ; wings and tail as in the adult bird, but duller in colour ; 

 wing-coverts tipped with dull white ; under tail-coverts dirty white. 



Obs. In the Himalayas there are two forms of Nutcracker, which, though closely allied to our European 

 bird, are still sufficiently distinct to form good species. The first of these [Nucifraga hemispila) is, 

 according to Dr. Jerdon, found throughout the Himalayas, chiefly frequenting the pine-forests. In 

 Sikkim it is rare, and is said to be more abundant in the interior, where pine-forests are more preva- 

 lent, and occurs at lower levels than in British Sikkim. The second species {Nucifraga multirnaculata) 

 has only been found on the hills of the North-western Himalayas and Cashmere. Of N. hemispila I 

 have one specimen, obtained by Mr. Blanford in Sikkim, at an altitude of 12,000 feet, in the month of 

 September. It differs from N. caryocatactes in having the flanks and abdomen unspotted, the upper 

 surface of the body being also only spotted on the upper part of the back ; the outer tail-feathers have 

 also much more white on them than in N. caryocatactes, covering an area of 2 inches in length against 

 - 9 in N. caryocatactes. Of N. multirnaculata I have three specimens from the Himalayas, obtained 

 through the late Dr. Jerdon. These differ from N. caryocatactes in being much more profusely 

 spotted than that bird, the spots being also much larger ; the secondaries, primary coverts, and some 

 of the primaries are also tipped with white, and the white on the tail-feathers covers a somewhat larger 

 area than in N. hemispila. The measurements of the various specimens of these three species (N. 

 caryocatactes, N. hemispila, and N. multirnaculata) will be seen from the following table : — 



Nucifraga caryocatactes 



Nucifi-aga hemispila . 

 Nucifraga multirnaculata 





Culmen. 



Wing. 



Tail. 



Tarsus. 





inches. 



inches. 



inches. 



inch. 



Sweden, <J . 



2-2 



7-75 



5-5 



1-85 



do. 2. 



1-7 



7-2 



5-2 



1-65 



Ural, cJ • 



2-05 



7-4 



53 



1-6 



Piedmont, d 



2-0 



7-4 



5-2 



1-7 



Switzerland. 



1-8 



7-5 



5-3 



1-65 



Sikkim. 



1-75 



8-3 



6-0 



1-75 



Himalayas. 1-8-1-65 7-9-8-3 6-1-6-6 1-6-1-7 



The range of the Nutcracker extends over the entire northern and central portion of the Palse- 

 arctic region, from about 63°-64° N. latitude down to Italy in the western portion, and Japan 

 in the eastern portion of that region ; but in most localities it appears at irregular intervals — 

 sometimes in large numbers, and at other times either very rare or at least much less numerous. 

 With us in Great Britain it is but a straggler, a single specimen occurring now and then. 

 Pennant (Brit. Zool. App. p. 488) appears to have been the first to record it as a British species, 



