Nighthawk 



In devious circles round and round, 



The nighthawk coursed the twiUght sky, 

 Or shot Hke Hghtning the profound, 

 With breezy thunder in the cry 

 That marked his furious rebound. 



J. G. Holland. 



NUTHATCH, WHITE-BREASTED 



The name nuthatch has been bestowed on this family 

 of birds from their supposed practice of breaking nuts by 



repeated hatchings, or hammerings with their bills 



It is said that they lay up a large store of nuts for winter, 



but .... I am inclined to doubt the fact 



I have every reason to beheve that ants, bugs, small seeds, 

 insects and their larvse form their chief subsistence. 



Wilson. 



A lady forgetting his name once aptly described him 

 to me as 'Hhat little upside-down bird," for he will run 

 along the under side of a branch with as much coolness 

 as a fly would cross a ceiling. 



Audubon observes that he sleeps hanging head down. 



Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^ 



They have little fear, but a great deal of curiosity. In 

 a very pert and comical manner one will stretch out its 

 neck, cock its head on one side, and coolly examine a 

 person passing by. But the difference between impudent 

 boldness and artless inquisitiveness is as easily distinguish- 

 able in a bird as in a human being. 



Parkhurst. The Birds' Calendar.^^ 



96 



