528 



PERCHING BIRDS 



akin to the titmice, although with some affinity to the creepers. 

 They are small birds, with short and nearly squared tails, long, 

 pointed wings, and stout, moderately long, awl-like beaks, specially 

 adapted for lifting or boring loose bark. There are generally 

 bristles at the gape, and the nostrils are covered either by feathers 

 or bristles. The legs and feet are stout, with an unusually long 

 hind-toe, and long, curved, sharp claws. 



The nuthatch, which is a stoutly built, short-tailed little bird, 

 measuring about 5^ inches in length, has all the upper-parts, with 

 the exception of a black streak running backwards from the base of 

 the beak to the eye and thence to the neck, of a clear slaty blue ; in 



contrast to this is the 

 rich buff of the under- 

 parts, streaked on the 

 flanks and tail -coverts 

 with chestnut ; with the 

 exception of the middle 

 pair, which are grey, the 

 tail-feathers are black 

 at the base and barred 

 and tipped with white. 

 Hens and young birds 

 arc distinguishable from 

 adult cocks by their 

 duller colouring. It is 

 noteworth}' that the en- 

 tire colouring of the 

 nuthatch presents a remarkable parallelism to that of the kingfisher, 

 although the tone is much paler and more subdued. 



The nuthatch ranges from England through central and southern 

 Europe eastwards to Asia Minor and Syria, and northwards to Jutland, 

 bcN'ond which it is replaced by the Scandinavian nuthatch — the true 

 Si/ta curopira — whose range stretches eastward across Russia and 

 Siberia to Kamchatka and Japan. Throughout England the nuthatch 

 is more or less common, but to the north it graduall}' becomes scarcer, 

 and in Scotland it is practically unknown except in some of the 

 southern counties. To Ireland it is a complete stranger. 



As every one knows, the nuthatch is a thoroughly arboreal bird, 

 although it may be found alike in woods and in garden trees and 

 shrubberies. It is resident in ICngland throughout the year, and is 

 especially interesting on account of the fact that while its diet in 



NUTH.VrCII (IKMAI.K). 



