THE WOODS IN ERMINE. 209 



for looking at me ; but at length he was convinced, 

 I suppose, that I was only a harmless bird-gazer, 

 and so he set to work in good earnest, and soon 

 became so absorbed that he paid no heed to his in- 

 tensely interested spectator. There was a worm 

 or larva imbedded in that cranny. How he did 

 labor to secure it ! He pecked and drilled and 

 pried and thrust in his bill until I feared he would 

 break it off. 



But his efforts were at last rewarded. A pas- 

 sage was opened into the insect's winter hiding- 

 place, and the bird drew him out piece-meal, for he 

 would not 3^ield to the sacrifice of himself in any 

 other way. I could see the white fragments linger 

 a moment between the nuthatch's mandibles, and 

 then they glanced down his throat in a twinkle. 

 One refractory piece slipped from his bill and 

 would have fallen to the ground, but, quick as a 

 flash, he sprang after and secured it before it had 

 descended a half-foot. I do not know how long 

 it took him to "finish" that poor worm; but at 

 last it had all been stowed away in his stomach, 

 and he flew off saying, '' Henk-a^ henk-a^ ha-a^ Jia-a., 

 lia-aT' Thus ended the comedy of the bird and 

 tragedy of the worm. 



