220 CORV1D.E. 



mSESSORES. CORVIDM. 



PLATE CXXXII. 



NUTCRACKER. 



NlJCIFRAGA CARYOCATACTES. 



The Nutcracker, although a rare bird in this country, 

 is well-known all over Europe, the North of Asia, and 

 North America. In Europe it is found far north in Sweden, 

 extending over Russia to Siberia and Kamschatka. 



This species is nowhere found in great abundance, although 

 in the mountainous forests of Switzerland, its favourite locality, 

 they are considered plentiful. In the southern parts of 

 Europe the Nutcracker is only an occasional visitant, and in 

 the north he regularly arrives in summer and departs towards 

 the autumn. During their migration they travel in companies 

 of six or eight at most, and frequently alone, which occasions 

 their being less observed ; they seldom make their call note 

 heard, and rarely leaving the thickest foliage and bushes, un- 

 less they are driven out by some cause or other, they remain 

 hidden and unseen. During the summer they inhabit lonely 

 mountain forests of pine or copse, chiefly seeking the deepest 

 parts of the forest, where there are open spaces and springs 

 of fresh water. Towards autumn they leave those retreats 

 for oak and beech woods, intermixed with hazel-nut trees, 

 and are seen even in the lower parts of the country, until 

 nuts become scarce : they are then busily employed among 



