40 Forest Birds. 
Walking through a forest one day we came across an 
old gnarled oak, whose trunk was covered with round 
knobs, in one of which was a hole, where once a branch 
had shot forth. Round this hole some mud was 
plastered, a sure sign that it contained a Mud-dabber’s 
nest. We soon procured a saw, and for a quarter of an 
hour or so the old forest rang with its music until the 
knob was severed from the tree. A beautiful sight was 
then revealed to our eyes—a nest composed of moss, 
dead leaves, and chips of wood and bark, with two 
round ivory eggs, spotted with red, lying on the top. 
As we examined the nest we found five more eggs 
lying hidden in the leaves and moss. The nest was not 
woven together, but the materials were placed in a 
miscellaneous heap, while the leaves and chips of 
wood had been broken small by the bird, to enable it 
to carry them through the narrow entrance. Another 
nest, which we found high up in an elm tree, was 
composed entirely of small flakes of yew bark, 
gathered, doubtless, from an old yew tree hard by. 
The Nuthatch sits very closely upon its eggs, and 
may be looked at without causing it to leave them. 
It is bold, too, in the choice of a position for its nest 
—a hole in a tree by a road being often selected ; 
and we have known one, in which young were reared, 
that was situated a few feet above a seat, constantly 
used by passers-by as a resting place. 
