Retrospective Criticism^\ 4^^ 



P- cc^mleusv hftve, b^Q, (Juring the winter, eitbeaj plj^l4fi}l^<^^ffiFe^^u^||j^ 

 there. These two species, in feeding op the yew nuts> crack the shiallR vfi 

 t)[ie nuthatch's manner, and make so very audible a noise by their quickly 

 reiCerated and continuous tapping, as to cause one to think it is the nut- 

 hatch one hears. The Pari, or titmice, do not, I believe, in cracking the 

 shells, infix them into chinks in the trees, but secure them between tl^% 

 feet on the surface of the branch whereon they are standing. iQ-jq 



in observing the nuthatch climbing tall trees, as the lime and the elni,fr 

 ■\(vhen, of course, insects, not nuts, were the objects sought, I noticed that 

 the bird ascended in a very zigzag manner, as, at the end of every few 

 inches in its {)rogress upwards, it diverged either to the right hand or to 

 ^*<^ left: this, it may be presumed, was less for the pur[)ose of rendering 

 asciept-easy, as draught horses, in ascending hills, take a flexuous course, 

 than for; the purpose of enlarging its field of search, and so increasing the 

 ehfeilices of amplifying its meal. During the winter the nuthatch was very 

 shy, and,. as far as my observation extended, quite silent. 33y the 10th oi' 

 April and before, it had become, I think, less shy, and rather frequ^j]^J^, 

 ijiajejifedixp&ipi ©lit tji^ pother of its two notes: these aa-e a shqct briokenntvit- 

 ting^-atid a short, unmodulated, yet mellow-toned whistle. r-J. -O. qqj 

 . Additional facts on the manners and habits of this interesting bird A^f^^ 

 b© found, VoL I. p. 328—330., Vol. II. p. 243.; and in Vol IL p. 484, it 

 iai (Stated, to have, when dead, a peculiar odour, which, like that of the 

 |r«ater slu'ike, when also dead, resembles the scent thrown out by burnt 

 gunpowder. In Vol. IV. p. 171. 275. and 465. mention of the nuthatch 

 ali^o occurs. On this bird, also, some remarks, by our kind contributor, 

 J. M., have been long lying by us ; they will be found to confirm previously 

 published notices, and to supply additional information. They are these :^-- 



Jan. 4. 1828. The nuthatch calls. This is a beautiful and lively her^)4 

 of spring, but not a songster, having only a fcNV short notes, one of th^m 

 pecul^r, and so loud that it may be heard at a considerable distance. It 

 is at all times a busy and cheerful bird, and particularly before breeding 

 time. Its favourite food is nuts of any kind, and tree seeds; it builds and 

 roosts in hollow trees, and is seldom seen in the open fields, unless when 

 in quest of the stones of whitethorn : it may be, therefore, properly called 

 a forester. Its dexterity in opening nuts and the stones of fruit is curious : 

 it fixes the nut in a crack on the top of a post, or on the bark of a tree, 

 and, placing itself above it, head downwards, strikes with great force and 

 rapidity with its strong wedge-shaped bill on the edge of the shell, till it 

 splits it open. Where the food of these birds is plentiful, they have a 

 fevHaririte crack for unshelling the kernels, as sometimes a peck of broken 

 shells may be seen under this crack. — J, M. .j »« 



21w Tree Creeper {Cei'thiafmnilidris I^.) a Winter Resident (p. 204.) — ^S^v 

 This bird is undoubtedly to be met with in winter as well as sunmier, in this 

 neighbourhood. I have often watched it at both seasons, while it has been (as 

 J. D. so well observes) "most diligently occupied in entomological research,? 

 ©ceeping f^pendicularly, and, as it were, by jerks, up the stems and boughs 

 of trees, searching and scrutinising every chink, to the right and left^ for the 

 latent insect, which it extracts with its long and elegantly curved bill; a 

 tool, like all those of Nature's manufacture, most admirably adapted to the 

 puj'pose. But all this has been very accurately describedby J. D. (Vol.V. 

 p, 204, 205.) I was not aware of the circumstances mentioned by T. G., 

 fviz., that the creeper, during the winter, is in the habit of associating with 

 ithe different species of titmice. I am. Sir, yours, &c. — W. T. Bree. AlleS" 

 ley Rectory^ March 8. 1832. 



I do not recollect ever having seen the creeper in any society except 

 that of its own species, and never more than a pair o^ creepers togethei: 

 thesspecies seera5„tOj^mje to pref^j and, delight in, solitarines|*,^A^ 

 yilBijaqao ^rfoiriw riiod ; "!o[Bm bnB 8U3l ' , ' * ' 



