465 



15 



arrange to allow one clutch to hatch out, and thus make some observations on the incubation 



and bringing-up of the young The nests of the Nutcrackers which bred on the Solothurn 



Jura were built at altitudes of 2500 to 3500 feet above the sea-level, in open positions where 

 the sun could shine on them, and on heights sloping to the south or south-east, often near the 

 plateaux of the main mountains, or on one of the smaller ones, always in mixed woods and on a 

 pine or silver-fir tree of 6 to 9 inches diameter, at a height of 15 to 25 feet, the nest being 

 placed on a main branch on the sunniest side of the tree. 



" Not one of the nests was on a non-evergreen tree, but all on conifers, generally in a bunch 

 of firs at the edge of a non-evergreen grove where plenty of sunshine was to be had, but still 

 where the nest would be well hidden. Most of the nests, however, were well visible to any one 

 standing below the tree ; and one was placed on an old half-dead bough, though plenty of more 

 favourable places were close at hand. The nests measure from 27 to 30 centimetres in diameter, 

 and from 15 to 18 in height; the cup of the nest is 13 centimetres wide and 8 deep ; thus it is 

 rather more than half-globe-shaped. The first foundation consists of about half a centimetre of 

 thick or thin twigs of almost all sorts of trees, such as ash (Fraxinus excelsior), beech (Fagus 

 sylvatica), pine (Pinus abies), silver fir (Pinus picea), common fir (Pinus sylvestris) ; on these 

 twigs all sorts of mosses still remain, giving the outside of the nest a peculiar appearance. On 

 this first foundation a more or less thick layer of peaty stuff or small bushy plants with earth- 

 covered roots is placed, making a somewhat solid mass, and increasing the height to about 

 3 centimetres. The sides of the nest are constructed of dry twigs of the above-named trees ; or 

 often fresh twigs with the foliage still attached are used; and through these are plaited the 

 slender twigs of various forest-bushes, such as Ligustrum vulgare, Corylus avellana, Lonicera 

 periclymenum, Lonicera xylosteum, and Cratcegus oxyacantha. The lining of the nest, however, 

 is composed of quite different materials, being chiefly beard-moss ( Usnea barbata), grass bents 

 of Dactylis glomerata, Bromus, and Car ex, as also common moss (Hypnum), and especially the 

 bast or inner bark of the ash, these materials being rather arranged in order than carefully 

 woven together. 



" The nest of the Nutcracker, compared with those of allied species, resembles more that of 

 the Crow than of the Jay ; and the nest of the common Jay ( Garrulus glandarius), which in 

 former years has so often done duty for the Nutcracker's nest, is totally different. Taken all in 

 all it is not a very artistic structure, though peculiar, and, especially when new, pretty, as the 

 bright fresh mosses and green twigs stand out well from the remaining dark materials of the 

 nest. As is the case with many other species, the Nutcracker in some cases makes a much more 

 artistic nest than in others ; and a second nest, after the first has been destroyed, is much smaller 

 and more carelessly made than the previous one." 



Mr. Vogel gives a most careful description, with measurements in tabular form, of six nests 

 with eggs which came under his notice, which I may briefly summarize as follows: — The first 

 nest was found on the 15th March, 1868, and contained four eggs, which in appearance most 

 resembled Magpie's eggs, and in size varied from 33 by 25 to 35 by 25 millimetres ; the second 

 nest, taken on the 18th of May, 1870, contained four eggs similar in appearance to those in the 

 first nest, and in size varying from 33 by 24 to 35 by 24 millimetres ; the third nest was found on 

 the 10th March, 1872, and likewise contained four eggs, which, however, resembled those of the 



