154 



BIRDS. 



The- food of tlie iiiitliatch is varied, consisting of grubs, 

 beecli-niast, nuts, and the like. The nuts are Avedged in 

 (i fork and hammered witli the bill until the 

 feediuo- ^^^^^ breaks, a proceeding I have witnessed 

 many a time in the Xew Forest and else- 

 where ; and the bird throws its whole force into each blow. 



Now and attain an 

 unusually refractory 

 nut is seized in the 

 bill and dashed re- 

 peatedly against the 

 trunk. 



Perhaps, however, 

 the most interesting 

 habit of this bird 

 is to be found in 

 its notions of archi- 

 tecture. It is, Jin 

 fact, a compromise 

 between the wood- 

 pecker that excavates its own nesting-hole and the lazier 

 starling that appropriates one ready made. For the nut- 

 hatch, though not taking the trouble to hew 

 the w^ood, casts about until it lights on a hole 

 that will serve its purpose, and then proceeds 

 to effect improvements in the front-door, which it plasters 

 with mud and stones until only just wide enough to admit 

 its body. The object of this has not been, so far as I 

 know, ascertained ; if it be done with the idea of making 

 the smaller hole less conspicuous, Ave have here one of the 

 instances in Avliich bird-instinct is at fault. The " nest " 

 consists for the most part of such bark and rubbish as 

 may be within the hole. Br/r/s, 5 to 8, 3^ inch ; Avhite, 

 with brown blotches. 



Nesting- 

 hole. 



