106 



NUTHATCH. 



DELOR Y CNAW, OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH. 



NUTJOBBER. WOODCRACKER. 



PLATE LI. PIG. II. 



Sitta Europcea, PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



THESE birds pair in March, and at once commence their nest, which 

 is placed in some hole in a tree, frequently one previously made use of 

 by a Woodpecker, at a height of from twenty to sixty feet from the 

 ground. If the entrance be too large, they narrow it with clay, until 

 it is of the right width. It is lined with dry leaves, the scales of fir 

 cones, moss, bits of bark and wood, and sometimes a little grass. 



The eggs, from five to seven or eight or nine in number, and of an 

 oval form, are greyish white, spotted and sometimes much blotted with 

 chesnut brown. 



Incubation lasts about thirteen or fourteen days, and the female, 

 while sitting, makes a hissing noise at any intruder. The young are 

 fed principally with small caterpillars. 



