176 CERTHIAD^. 



tliem to get at it. In the spring of the present year, when 

 examining some fine old beech trees, upon one of wliich a 

 pair of the Nuthatch had been for some time observed to be 

 very busy, a considerable number of the beech nuts were 

 found fixed in the angles of various fissures in the bark, 

 several shells and husks were lying at the base of the tree, 

 and there was little doiibt these trees were among those which 

 this pair of birds visited daily. 



The call of the Nuthatch is a shrill single note, frequently 

 repeated ; and, like the other true climbers, it builds in holes 

 of trees : if the external aperture is large, the Nuthatch 

 plasters up part of it with mud, and if the plastering is re- 

 moved, the bird almost invariably renews it the first or second 

 day. In reference to this habit of working with plaster, one 

 of the names applied to this bird in France is Pic-ma^on. 

 Bird-nesting boys, when they find a hole that has been re- 

 cently plastered, always examine it, as they know by experi- 

 ence that it is almost certain to be tenanted. 



The Nuthatch makes a slight nest, or rather a collection 

 of dead leaves, moss, bits of bark and wood, and lays from 

 five to seven eggs ; these are nine lines in length and seven 

 lines in breadth, white, with some pale red spots ; the eggs 

 are very much like those of the Great Tit ; but the spots are 

 generally less numerous and rather larger. 



The actions of these birds are very amusing, and it is not 

 difficult to induce them to pay constant visits to a garden. 

 It is only necessary to fix a few nuts in the bark of any tree 

 that is conveniently situated for observation from a window, 

 and the Nuthatch will soon find them ; and fresh nuts being 

 deposited will insure almost daily visits. A kernel of a nut 

 fastened to the bark of a tree with a pin is a great tempta- 

 tion. If old birds are caught and caged, though they will 

 feed readily on almost anything that is given them, 

 they soon kill themselves by their unceasing exertions to 



