126 



BIRDS OF THE WAVE AND WOODLAND 



NHST1.\G-}10LE Ot WKiMiLK 



But when a bird 

 is heard tapping in 

 garden or orchard, 

 it must not be 

 taken for granted 

 that the workman 

 is either a nuthatch 

 or a wryneck, for 

 the "great tit," 

 the "oxeye" of 

 ni a n y country 

 places, has the 

 same habit of fixing 

 nuts or seeds in 

 crevices and ham- 

 mering at them 

 with its bill till 

 they split, and it 

 will also search the 

 bark of trees with 

 its beak in quest 

 of insects. But 

 above all the birds 



of our English gardens, not excepting the sparrow (which, 

 though an insolent is not a fearless bird) and the robin, the 

 ofreat tit confides in man and in all his doino's. 



