Birds. 



8555 



still showing traces of its original downy clothing-, have been received hy me, within 

 the last few days, from my excellent friend Herr Pastor P. W. Theobald, of Copen- 

 hagen, to whom I think the Society will join with me in hearty congratulations on his 

 success in obtaining these decisive facts in regard to the nidification of this mysterious 

 bird, and whose zeal in the quest of zoological discovery fully deserves, in my opinion, 

 all the praise that can be accorded to it. Believing, however, that the Pastor will 

 himself publish fuller details of this interesting capture, I will only briefly recount the 

 information with which he has supplied me. It appears that previously to the sum- 

 mer of 1860 a forester in the island of Bornholm had satisfied himself that the nut- 

 cracker was in the habit of breeding there annually. He had seen it every month in 

 the year, from May to November inclusive; and this intelligence being communicated 

 to Herr Theobald, that gentleman made an expedition to the island, but without 

 finding the special object of his search— a nest of the bird. This present spring, how- 

 ever, the Pastor, accompanied by two of his friends, HH. Erichsen and Fischer, both 

 keen oologists, visited Bornholm a second time ; and one of their achievements I have 

 now the pleasure of making known to you. Writing from that island, on the 30th of 

 May last, Herr Theobald says : — " Returning to the result of our ornithological expe- 

 dition, I can tell you that, after many days' inquiries, we succeeded in finding two 

 nests of Nucifraga caryocatactes, the young birds flying near them. As we presumed, 

 we came too late fur getting the eggs; but I think we have advanced a good deal, and 

 after this discovery we dare be almost sure of receiving them next year. Our gentle 

 and clever host, the forester Rosen, who now knows the time and manner of nidffica- 

 tion of this bird, may be considered a guarantee for our hopes. We have thought it 

 might be of interest to you to possess an undoubtedly genuine nest of N. caryocatac- 

 tes, and also a young bird in the first plumage ; we therefore send you one nest and 

 one skin. Both the nests are of the same size and construction. They were in fir 

 trees (Pinus rubra), not very private, but rather easy to find. It is likely that the 

 young birds had left the nest perhaps eight days. None of them moved, except with 

 difficulty, among the branches ; and one of them fell on the ground. The old birds 

 cried, but only sometimes, with an anxious voice that was not unlike a magpie's, and 

 then all was silent again. In the neighbourhood of the nest, where the birds had been 

 previously observed, we found on the rocky ground a good number of freshly-cracked 

 hazel-nuts ; and as no nut trees grow there, the birds must fetch them from a distance 

 of an English mile at least. We are inclined to think that they collect them in 

 autumn, and secure them in a private spot ; and perhaps it is on this account also 

 that the bird, whose economy is very hidden, is seldom to be seen in the breeding 

 time. As I have already mentioned, the nest is not of the most difficult class to find. 

 It is not built on the top of the tree, but close to the stem, about twenty-five or thirty 

 feet high. The bird is an early breeder, but can scarcely have eggs before the begin- 

 ning of April. Now you have the nest wherein the young birds were lately hatched, 

 and a young bird in its first plumage. Next year we hope to send you very well- 

 authenticated eggs." I have only to conclude by mentioning that the nest, as will be 

 seen on examination, is of large size, some five or six inches in thickness, with an out- 

 side diameter of about a foot, and a shallow depression of six inches across; but the 

 cup was probably a good deal deeper before its brim was subjected to the weight of 

 the young birds. It is composed outwardly of sticks and twigs, among which I 

 recognize those of the larch, spruce and birch. These latter show the period at which 

 it must have been built, as the buds, though enlarged, had not burst. It has a thick 



