Hedgerow Life 
well when to look out for the ripe hazel- 
nuts. These are perhaps the biggest 
of the hedgerow fruits, except the crab- 
apple, and provide food also for the field- 
mouse and the nuthatch, not to mention 
the grubs and weevils which feed inside 
the growing nut, reducing it to powder 
belore at)can tipem. lave you ever 
seen a squirrel sitting up nibbling a nut, 
holding it in its little red paws? If so, 
you will agree with me in thinking that 
it would be very difficult to see anything 
prettier in the whole world of nature. 
While it holds the nut fast it nibbles the 
shell with its powerful cutting teeth, like 
chisels, until it can reach the kernel. 
The nuthatch is a bird equally fond of 
nuts; but as it can’t hold the nut in its 
hands, it flies off with it and fixes it in 
the crevice of the rough bark of a tree. 
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