50 SITTA EUROPiEA. 



brownish-red, and the lower tail-coverts, which are white, 

 w^th a broad edging of brownish-red. 



Length to end of tail S^^g inches ; extent of wings 10^ ; 

 wing from flexure oj^ ; tail l^^^g ; bill along the ridge /g, along 

 the edge of lower mandible {^ ; tarsus ^| ; hind toe ^%, its 

 claw |g ; second toe ^-j ; its claw ^'^ ; third toe pj,, its claw 

 ^*2 ; fourth toe j%, its claw ^^j. 



Female. — The female is similar to the male, but with the 

 tints paler, and the size somewhat less. 



Variations. — This bird is very little subject to change of 

 colour. An individual almost white, with only a few light 

 chocolate feathers at the vent, and here and there a dark fea- 

 ther intermixed with the rest of the plumage, the legs and bill 

 quite white, is mentioned in Mr Loudon''s Magazine, Vol. VIII, 

 p. 112, as having been obtained in Suifolk. 



Habits. — The Nuthatch is not generally distributed in Bri- 

 tain, being of rare occurrence in the northern parts of Eng- 

 land, and not hitherto observed in Scotland. It is found 

 chiefly in the wooded parts, but is nowhere very common, and is 

 seldom seen in companies of more than seven or eight indivi- 

 duals. Like the Creeper and AVoodpeckers, it ascends the 

 trunks and branches of trees by means of its long curved 

 claws, but without employing its tail as a support, and it 

 descends in the same manner head-foremost, in which re- 

 spect it difi'ers from all the birds that occur in our island. 

 In this manner it searches the bark for insects and larva*, 

 sometimes betakes itself for the same purpose to thatched 

 roofs, and occasionally alights on the ground, where it pro- 

 ceeds by short leaps. Besides insects, it feeds on the kernels 

 of nuts, which, having fixed in a convenient crevice in the 

 bark, it hammers with its strong pointed bill, until it perforates 

 the shell, pivoting itself on its legs, and jerking its whole 

 body forwards. All its actions are abrupt and lively ; it climbs 

 by short jerks, perches with ease on the twigs, throws itself 

 into various postures, and is often seen with its head down- 



