24 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



a resentful growl. Again the hunter raised his trusty rifle, and with 

 deadly aim he covered the foremost of his ferocious foes. "Snap!" re- 

 plied the gun — it was empty. 



Winter was drawing to a close, the snow had done its work, and 

 was fast disappearing. Again the little wooded glen on the old mountain 

 trail was an animated scene. Two lonely miners passing over the old 

 thoroughfare reached the shady nook and halted! What is this on the 

 snow? At their feet lay the carcass of the timber wolf. Peering 

 down the pathway — (it gave evidence of a mighty struggle) —a few 

 feet ahead lay another grizzly form — beyond was a tnird — a story of a 

 tragedy. Advancing down the trail on the further side of their grew- 

 some find — the melting snow was strewn with the strand of the gar- 

 ment — here and there — the bone of the victim — as the wild beasts had 

 left them after the horrible feast. In the center of the circle, in the 

 trampled snow, lay a Winchester rifle — its breech was gaping. On the 

 stock of the gun was carved, "John Burch— Government Hunter." 



CLARKE'S CROW OR; NUTCRACKER 



By William L. Finley 



CLAEKE'S Crow or Nutcracker was first discovered by Captain 

 William Clarke near the site of Salmon City in Idaho, August 22, 

 1805. While this bird is a crow in actions, yet in dress he is 

 very different. One might think Mother Nature had made him over by 

 using an ordinary crow. She whitened his whole body, but did not 

 finish with his wings and tail. These she left black except with a 

 white patch on the lower part of the wings and the outer feathers of the 

 tail. She made a striking character, typical of the high western moun- 

 tainous country where the Alpine hemlocks and the jack pines live. 



Whenever at Cloud Cap Inn, the log house hotel which is fastened 

 down with cables on the north slope of Mt. Hood, I like to spend all the 

 time watching the Clarke's Crows and Oregon Jays. These birds have 

 learned to come about the hotel for their daily meals all during the 

 summer, and from the interest that people take in these birds and 

 squirrels, I sometimes think they are almost as big an attraction as the 

 very mountain itself, for most people do really have a love for outdoor 

 creatures that have changed their normal habits and have become, so 

 tame through protection that they will eat from 1 the hand. The scraps 

 from the table are thrown over the cliff down below the inn on the 

 west side. Here is the best place to study crows and jays. 



'Clarke's Crow is very fond of meat, and for this reason he has 

 often been called "meat bird." His taste for suet or for peanuts 

 often leads the bird to become quite bold and even take food from the 

 hand. The Oregon Jays are even bolder than the crows. They are 

 both commonly known as ' ' camp robbers. ' ' 



In a recent trip through Yellowstone Park, I was surprised to find 

 Clarke's Crow so much wilder than the Eocky Mountain Jay. On ac- 

 count of the protection they receive, many of the wild birds and animals 

 have become so tame that they feed, from the hand. While we fed jays 

 in many places, I never saw a single crow come down near the hotel. 

 However, they perhaps do this at different times and places. It may 

 have been natural food was so abundant in the forests that they did 

 not care for the offerings of civilization. All during our trip, we saw 

 them launching out from tree-tops, sometimes with a long swoop, open- 

 ing their wings and letting themselves curve up before the next drop. 

 Their continuous, harsh, rattling call that sounds like "Char-r! char-r! ,J 

 is such a familiar typical sound of the pine timber and rugged- moun- 

 tains. 



