164 RIVERSIDE LETTERS XXI 



middle or at the end of May, will do them 

 much harm, though only of a temporary 

 character ; also that the whole little bog has 

 to be enclosed with wire, or the blackbirds 

 and thrushes would during the dry, hot, 

 weather, very soon scratch the place to 

 pieces. Some frogs have taken up their 

 abode in it, and keep it free from ants, which 

 might otherwise become troublesome. 



Just before I intended to post this letter, I 

 witnessed, this afternoon, a bird's action, 

 about which I had often heard and read, but 

 never seen. It was that of a nuthatch crack- 

 ing a nut. It has been often described 

 accurately and fully, but I thought you might 

 like to hear my account, taken fresh from 

 nature. In the kitchen garden there is a 

 large weeping willow hanging over the river, 

 near which at sundry times I have heard 

 a tapping noise, but never could find out what 

 caused it. I did not expect to see a nuthatch 

 there, as, most usually, I see these birds on 

 the sycamore or walnut-tree at the other 



