62 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVIII 
them, which consisted of bread crumbs, “garden bugs”, and some of the 
“marsh bugs” before mentioned. 
On March 19, I took both captives again to the marsh for photographs. 
On the way from the car to the spot selected, a gnat lit on my companion’s 
finger and upon holding the Black Rail near, she grabbed greedily at the 
insect. She seemed rather vicious at all times, pecking angrily at anything 
offered her — sticks, fingers and all. A small, round clump of salicornia, per- 
haps three feet in diameter, was selected for the background effect, and oper- 
ations began. The little rail proved the more elusive of the two. She would 
dive into the dense mass, exactly as a duck dives in water, and would then 
crouch motionless, as if hiding. The walking positions of the two species were 
noticeably different. The little Black was always proud, with head erect and 
no jerky movements while walking, but the Carolina was a typical rail, head 
down, tail erect, and forever sneaking off sideways as though he were ashamed 
of himself. Finally on March 20, after making what pictures I wanted, 1 
turned the two rails free to roam and search for food and mate at will. 
Many times later, I searched in vain for the hidden, speckled beauties 
which the little black mother probably had hidden away somewhere under a 
sheltering marsh clump, but I never found them. Let us trust they hatched 
safely into fuzzy youngsters, and were led by their mother through the pro- 
tecting marsh growth down to the feeding grounds in the muddy beds of tidal 
streams. If such was the case you may be sure she warned them to look out, 
at all times, for that fellow who would poke sticks at them as he once had at 
her, to arouse the spirits of a crestfallen captive into photographic spright- 
liness 
San Diego , California, December 13, 1915. 
THE NUTCRACKERS OF YELLOWSTONE PARK 
By M. P. SKINNER 
T HE CLARKE Nutcracker, or Clarke Crow ( Nucifraga Columbiana), is 
sometimes known as “Camp Robber”, possibly because of the rather 
superficial resemblance it bears to the true camp robber or Rocky Moun- 
tain Jay. But his livery is black and white and gray as against the various 
tones of gray alone, as shown by the jay. In the Yellowstone Park the nut- 
crackers are everywhere ; but where they occur in the large, open prairies and 
meadows, it is evident that they are only flying across between the heavy ever- 
green forests. They are never seen in the large flocks reported elsewhere, but 
are usually found in one’s or two’s, or perhaps in small flocks of a half dozen. 
The largest flock reported was made up loosely of twenty-four individuals. 
While not migratory birds, strictly speaking, they do move up and down the 
mountains at the change of the seasons. In summer they are at all elevations, 
but in winter they are all below 7000 feet. One snowy, stormy day they were 
observed in numbers passing the top of Mt. Sheridan at an elevation of' 10,000 
feet. The vicinity of Mammoth Hot Springs and Fort Yellowstone seems to 
be a center of abundance both winter and summer. A careful estimate gives 
from twenty to thirty birds as constantly in this neighborhood; but as this bird 
