CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 317 



deposited. These are white, spotted with reddish- 

 brown. In spring the male utters a loud and shrill 

 whistle as well as a ' Tui-tui-tui ; ' there is also a 

 bubbling or churring note. In autumn the food 

 consists chiefly of hazel nuts, which the bird 

 fixes in some crevice, and then proceeds to hammer 

 with its bill until the shell is broken ; each stroke 

 being delivered with the full weight of the body, 

 working from the hip joint, whence the names of 

 Nuthatch (i.e., Nuthack) and Nutjobber." 



Treecreeper. 



Order, Passeres. Family, Certhiidoe. 



This small species is pretty generally distributed 

 over our islands, but owing to the diminutiveness of 

 its size, and the colour of the bird blending very 

 much with the trunks of the trees up which it climbs 

 with the assistance of its tail feathers, it would not 

 be likely to attract attention. One, if not both 

 specimens in the case, were shot with a walking 

 stick gun in a private park in the Caterham Valley, 

 In regard to nesting-habits, etc., Howard Saunders 

 says, " Towards the middle of April the Tree- 

 creeper makes its nest, usually selecting a crevice 

 between the partially detached bark and the trunk of 

 a tree, or a narrow cleft in the bole ; not unfre- 

 quently placing it behind loose plaster or under the 

 eaves of a shed or a dwelling ; sometimes in the 

 foundation of a nest of birds of prey and Rooks, and 

 in piles of timber or bricks. Fine straw or twigs. 



