326 PERCHERS AND SINGERS 
tain parks, “‘rim-rock,”’ “‘slide-rock,”’ pines and cedars bravely 
climbing up steep acclivities, gloomy canyons and rushing 
streams of icy-cold water below all. 
I first made acquaintance with this bird while hunting elk 
and mountain sheep, on a fearfully steep mountain side, with 
a magnificent panorama spread out below. It greeted me in 
friendly fashion with the rasping “Kurr, Kurr!”? which, when 
heard amid such surroundings is not soon forgotten. It has 
been my misfortune, however, never to see the remarkable 
habit thus graphically described by Mrs. Florence Merriam 
Bailey in her delightful “‘ Handbook”: 
‘Living mainly on the crests of the ranges, the birds fly 
to the high peaks to get the first rays of the sun, and when 
warmed go for food and water to the lower slopes. Their 
method of getting down is startling at first sight. Launching 
out from a peak, with bill pointed downward and wings 
closed, they drop like a bullet for a thousand feet, to the 
brook where they wish to drink. Sometimes they make the 
descent at one long swoop, at other times in a series of pitches, 
each time checking their fall by opening their wings, and 
letting themselves curve upward before the next straight drop. 
They fall with such a high rate of speed that when they open 
their wings there is an explosive burst which echoes from the 
canyon walls.” 
The head, neck and body of this bird are uniform ashy 
gray, and the wings and tail are black, with a white patch 
half way down the former. The Nut-Cracker is really a small 
crow, twelve inches long, and much resembles the common 
gray and black crow of Europe. It is found in all the moun- 
