210 THE NUTHATCH. 



the ground. Each stroke is delivered with the full force of 

 the body, the head and neck being kept rigid, the movement 

 being in the hip joint. As if to gain impetus, each blow is 

 accompanied by a simultaneous flap of its closed wings 

 against its sides. The energy and perseverance of the bird 

 when thus engaged render this one of the prettiest sights 

 imaginable, and one which can only be fully appreciated 

 by those who have actually watched it at work. 



The second syllable of the word " nuthatch " is derived 

 from the French " hacher " to chop, from which our word 

 " hatchet " is derived. In the country the bird is sometimes 

 called the Nutjobber. 



Its nesting habits are particularly interesting, as they are 

 entirely different from those of any other British bird. It 

 usually selects a hole in a tree just large enough to admit of 

 its passage through. I have twice seen the deserted hole 

 of a green woodpecker used as a nesting site by the 

 nuthatch, but in both these cases, as indeed whenever the 

 entrance hole is much larger than the circumference of its 

 own body, the nuthatch displays considerable engineering 

 skill in reducing its diameter. This operation is carried on 

 entirely by means of its bill, which is now used as a 

 plasterer's trowel. Flying olf to some spot close to water 

 the bird gathers up a small mass of soft mud or clay, and 

 returning to its future nesting hole, spreads the mud around 

 a part of the entrance, and leaves it to dry hard. This 

 process is continued until a complete lining has been 

 constructed within the original hole, having only a small 

 circular orifice in its centre. I have met with two instances 

 in which the nuthatch selected a hole in a wall instead of in 

 a tree. One of these was in a garden wall which also 

 formed the back of an outhouse. The wall was built of 

 bricks facing endways, with here and there a space where a 



