COMMON NUTHATCH. 79 



Family PARID/E. Genus Sitta. 



Sub-family SITTING. 



COMMON NUTHATCH. 



Sitta c^sia, Wolf. 



Probably Double Brooded. Laying season, April to June 

 and July. 



British breeding area : The Nuthatch is another 

 very local species, confined principally to England, being 

 very rare and accidental in Scotland, and entirely absent, 

 so far as is at present known, from Ireland. It is most 

 commonly dispersed in the southern and central counties, 

 breeding certainly as far west as Devonshire. In the 

 north of England it is much more local and rare, and 

 apparently does not breed north of Yorkshire, whilst in 

 Wales, where it is said to be on the increase, it certainly 

 nests in many localities, in Breconshire and elsewhere. 



Breeding habits : The breeding-haunts of the Nut- 

 hatch are woods, especially where plenty of old timber is 

 to be found, old orchards, and country where large timber 

 is plentiful. It frequently nests in large game coverts 

 and plantations ; less frequently in barer situations, and 

 occasionally near houses. The Nuthatch pairs for life. 

 All the winter through it may be observed in pairs, and 

 returns season after season to one particular spot to 

 breed. It is not by any means a social bird, each pair 

 keeping to one particular haunt. The usual site for the 

 nest is in a hole in a tree trunk, or a large branch, or in 

 a stump. More rarely a hole in a wall or a cavity in the 

 side of a haystack is utilized. The distance from the 

 ground seems purely to depend on the site, little if any 

 choice being exercised. The entrance is invariably plas- 

 tered up with mud or clay, and a neat round hole formed 



