140 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



inches by eight." In the usual case of a hole in a 

 tree, if the Nuthatches find a nesting-place suited to 

 their tastes, but with an opening larger than necessary, 

 as is often the case, they set to work to plaster up 

 the hole to the requisite size with wet clay, which 

 soon becomes hard, and has often to be removed with 

 a chisel before the nest can be got at. I have never 

 met with more nest than a few scales of the bark of 

 the Scotch fir, but leaves are very frequently used. 

 The eggs are generally six or seven, of a rather 

 creamy white, prettily blotched or splashed with 

 reddish brown. 



The Nuthatch is an easy bird to keep in captivity, 

 and becomes very tame if often noticed and fed from 

 the hand. The kernel of a hazel- or ground-nut is 

 an irresistible morsel, and will tempt an old wild- 

 caught Nuthatch to snatch it from the fingers very 

 soon after capture. On one occasion I noticed two 

 of these birds coming and going constantly to and 

 from a certain spot in the stone balustrade which 

 surrounds our flower-garden. As it was not in the 

 nut-season and the Nuthatches only remained at the 

 spot for a few seconds on each visit, I was anxious to 

 find out in what the attraction consisted, and, on 

 examination, discovered that they were picking out 

 large pieces of old dry mortar or cement from between 

 the stones, I presume for the purpose to which I have 

 already alluded, though how they managed to moisten 

 the material sufficiently to make it serviceable in that 

 case 1 cannot imagine, as the course they both took 

 on leaving their quarry was away from any water that 

 I knew of, though it is not improbable that they were 

 acquainted with some deposit on or in a large branch 

 of a tree which would suit them. This took place in 



