PASSERES. ( 100 ) SITTID/E. 



THE NUTHATCH. 



NUTJOBBER, NUTHACK, WOODCRACKER. 



Sitia ccesia. 



Nuthatch piercing with strong bill. 



SOUTHEY. 



The only instance on record of the occurrence of the 

 Nuthatch in Berwickshire, is that mentioned by Mr. Gray 

 in his Birds of the West of Scotland, on the authority of 

 Dr. J. A. Smith. The specimen referred to was killed in 

 a garden near Duns, in March 1856,^ and sent to Dr. 

 Smith to be exhibited at a meeting of the Eoyal Physical 

 Society. 



This bird is pretty common in the wooded parts of 

 central and southern England, where it is found at every 

 season of the year, but it is rare in the northern counties, 

 and has been very seldom observed in Scotland. 



It is partial to districts where there are old forest trees, 

 the trunks and branches of which it climbs in search of 

 insects, like the tree-creeper to which it bears an affinity. 

 It runs up and down a tree with equal facility, and when 

 it descends it keeps its head towards the ground. It does 

 not use its tail as a support in climbing. The food of the 

 Nuthatch consists of various insects, as well as hazel nuts, 

 acorns, beech-mast, and other hard seeds. It fixes nuts in 



1 Bird^ofthe West of Scotland, pp. 199. 200. 



