3l6 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



partial to certain localities. It is more common in 

 the south-east of England, and in the Midlands, 

 where there is no lack of old timber. 



In Wales, in suitable districts, it is in evidence, but 

 I have never, to my knowledge, come across it in 

 Scotland, where it is rare, and in Ireland it is 

 unknown. The specimens in the case were, as far 

 as my memory serves me (for I regret to say I have 

 no notes by me by which I might be able to refresh 

 it) were shot at a place called Limpsfield, in Surrey 

 — not very far from Oxted. I watched these funny 

 little birds climbing up the trunks of trees on that 

 occasion very closely, dodging from one side to the 

 other. 



Howard Saunders says that at such times the 

 motions of the Nuthatch resemble those of a mouse 

 rather than of a bird ; and to him I am indebted for 

 the following" extract: "The Nuthatch beoins to 

 breed about the middle of April, generally making 

 its nest in some hole in a limb of a tree, and 

 occasionally between the buttresses of the trunk 

 close to the ground. A hole in a wall is sometimes 

 selected, and in many instances the aperture is filled 

 up with clay and small stones, leaving only a narrow 

 orifice for entrance. An extraordinary nest in the 

 British Museum, presented by the late Mr. F. Bond, 

 was placed in the side of a haystack, and measured 

 thirteen inches by eight inches, the weight of the 

 clay being eleven pounds. Some distance inside the 

 cavity is a bed of dry leaves or of scales of the 

 Scotch fir, on which the egfo-s, five to seven, are 



