72 NUTHATCH. 



is very shrill and rapid like the word " tree, tree " often 

 repeated. Its plumage is dusky brown on the upper 

 parts, the tail feathers being reddish brown ; the 

 under parts are reddish brown. 



The nest is built about the end of April. The most 

 common site for it is in some old decayed forest tree 

 where the bark has peeled away from the trunk. 

 Here, wedged in between the trunk and the bark, we 

 may often come upon a nest, and very difficult it is 

 sometimes to get at. Occasionally it will build in a 

 crevice in a wood stack or in a shed. In 1893 we had 

 a nest at Oueenwood, wedged in between two beams 

 over the door of a play-shed. It could only be got 

 at with great difficulty by raising a slate. It was built 

 of twigs, grass and roots, and lined with feathers. 

 The Creeper rears two broods in a year, laying more 

 eggs the first time than the second. The first clutch 

 consists of six to nine, the second of three to five. 

 They are white, spotted with brownish red, chiefly at 

 the larger end. They closely resemble the eggs of the 

 Tits and the Willow Wren, and it would puzzle one to 

 have to separate them if once mixed. If you take 

 them yourselves, however, the nest is quite sufficient 

 to set any doubts at rest. 



The Creeper, we believe, refuses to live in a cage. 



NUTHATCH. 



SITTA C^.SIA. 



Family PasskriD/K. Sub-family Parix.-e. Genus Sitta. 



Wood Cracker— Nut Jobber— Mud Dabber— Jar Bird. 



The Nuthatch is a resident bird found in the central 

 and southern counties of England. In the northern 



