558 AVES-NUTHATCH. 



thumping like carpenters. They carry in no materials for their nest. Their 

 food varies with the season. As the common cherries, wild cherries, and 

 berries of the sour gum ripen, he regales plentifully on them ; but his chief 

 food is wood-lice and the young and larvae of ants. He is very fond of corn, 

 and visits the farmer's grounds too frequently to remain unpunished, as the 

 farmer destroys him on every opportunity. 



This bird has the back and wings of a burnt umber, marked with streaks 

 of black ; the breast is ornamented with a broad crescent of deep black ; the 

 belly is light yellow, spotted with innumerable round spots of black ; the 

 inner side of the wings and tail are of a beautiful golden yellow. They 

 inhabit America from Hudson's Bay to Georgia, and have been found on the 

 North- West coast. They arrive at Hudson's Bay in the spring. 



ORDER VI.— ANISODACT YLI. 



* 



Birds of this order have the bill more or less arched, often straight, always 

 subulate and slender ; feet with three toes before and one behind, the exte- 

 rior united at the base to that in the middle, the hinder one generally long, 

 and all provided with long and bent claws. 



THE NUTHATCHi 



Weighs near an ounce, and is five inches and three quarters in length. The 

 bill is strong and straight, and three fourths of an inch long. The upper 

 part of the plumage is of a fine bluish gray ; a black stroke runs from the 

 mouth to the eye. The cheeks are white, and the breast and belly of a duh 

 orange color. This bird runs up and down the bodies of trees like the wood- 

 pecker. It feeds on insects and nuts, which it stores in the hollow parts of 

 the tree. It is a pretty sight, says Willoughby, to see her fetch a nut out 



1 SUta Europea, Lin. The genus Sitta has the hill straight, cylindrical, slightly com- 

 pressed, tip acuminated, nostrils basal, rounded, partly concealed by reflected bristles 

 tongue short, homy ; three toes before, the exterior joined at its base to the middle onej 

 hind toe very long, with a long hooked claw ; tail composed of twelve feathers. 



