22 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 
turns or wants to alight you see his tail change 
from the horizontal to the vertical— into a rud- 
der. He is called keel-tailed on account of it. 
Moreover, he can pick beechnuts, catch cray- 
fish without getting nipped, and fish for minnows 
alongside of any ten-year-old. Last October I 
found him beech-nutting, but he made hard work 
of it. I suspect the cold snap — for there was 
snow on the ground — had stiffened his toes so 
that he was more awkward than usual. Poor fel- 
low, I felt sorry for him, it entailed such danger- 
ous gymnastics! But it was amusing to see him 
walk over the branches, stretch his neck to the 
point of dislocation, and then make such a deter- 
mined dive after the nut that he nearly lost his 
balance, and could only save himself by a desper- 
ate jerk of the tail. Even when he picked out a 
nut he had to put it under his claw and drill 
through the shell, pick-axe style, before he could 
get a morsel to eat. He evidently thought it 
rather serious sport, and flew down for some shriv- 
eled crab-apples as a second course. But an army 
of robins had possession of the apple-tree and 
two of them were detailed to drive him off, so he 
had to finish his breakfast up in the cold beech 
top. 
A long list of nesting sites might be given, in- 
cluding martin-houses, poplars, evergreens, holes 
in stubs, the sides of fish hawk’s nests, and 
church spires where the blackbirds’ “clatt’rin’”’ is 
