10 



AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



adees got to the window-sill in a very graceful manner, while the Red- 

 breasted Nuthatches came with hut little difficulty. The White-breasted Nut- 

 hatches were very awkward. At first they flew directly from the tree to 

 the window-sill, always landing on their breast, and hitting their head against 

 the window. They tried more experiments, and ended in flying against the 

 the window pane several times. While the Nuthatches are slow to invent, 

 they are very quick to learn from other birds. They watched the Chicka- 

 dees, and learned from them that the wire was the best way for them to get 

 to the window. They tried this, but were so clumsy they could not hold on 

 to the wire. Instead of grasping it tightly with their toes as all other birds 

 do. they curl the part of the foot which would correspond to the wrist of a 

 human being around the wire. Of course they could not hold on by this 

 method without many failures, so they took several somersaults off the 

 wire, landing five feet below, and righting themselves again. After nearly 

 a month of practice, they succeeded in getting to the window-sill by going 

 to one corner where the two wires met, and hopping from there to the win- 

 dow-sill. When one got a piece of food that was too large to swallow, he 

 Mould take it to a neighboring tree .where he drove it between the bark and 

 pecked small pieces from it until he had it all eaten. His relative, the Red- 

 breasted Nuthatch is more graceful and could be better compared with the 

 Chickadees, to which he also is related. The Red-breasted Nuthatch came to 

 the window-sill without any trouble, was graceful on the wire, and could 

 stand up nearly as straight on his legs on the window-sill as the Chickadees 

 could. 



<* 



Fearless but Hungry. 



