BIRDS IN THE GREENWOODS 235 



seed was attached, and which lay all along inside each 

 club or leaf of the cone, whereas the seed itself was 

 right at the base, and the beak of the birds could not, 

 perhaps (or not so easily), be pushed up so far between 

 the stiff clubs, the hard edges of which would catch 

 their foreheads uncomfortably. At least with the tit 

 and greenfinch, whose bills are not long, this would 

 seem to be likely. When the birds — as was evi- 

 dently often the case — pulled out only the thin flake- 

 leaf which had become detached from the seed, they 

 let it fall negligently, thus conveying the impression 

 that they had been taking trouble to no end. When, 

 however, they flew away with it, it is to be presumed 

 the seed was attached. 



" Here, then, are three quite different birds, all busily 

 occupied in extracting the seeds from the large cones 

 of an exotic species of fir, but whilst two of them — 

 the great-tit and the nut-hatch — effect this by first 

 hammering on the cone, so as to loosen the seeds, or, 

 rather, the woody flake to which they are attached, 

 from the basal part of the club (if we may assume 

 this to be the object) before pulling them out, the 

 greenfinch procures them without any previous 

 hammering, which is an action, perhaps, to which it 

 is not accustomed. One should not, however, assume 

 too hastily that the latter bird has no plan of his own 

 for first loosening the seeds. Remembering the rapid, 

 almost fluttering, motion — not at all like pecking or 

 hammering — which he communicates to his head and 

 bill, with the curious, vibratory sound — which again 

 does not suggest an ordinary blow — that accompanies 

 it, and how often when I could get a fairly good view 

 of him, he seemed to be repeatedly seizing and letting 



