40 Forest Birds. 



Walking through a forest one day we came across an 

 old gnarled oak, whose trunk was covered with round 

 knobs, in one of which was a hole, where once a branch 

 had shot forth. Round this hole some mud was 

 plastered, a sure sign that it contained a Mud-dabber's 

 nest. We soon procured a saw, and for a quarter of an 

 hour or so the old forest rang with its music until the 

 knob was severed from the tree. A beautiful sight was 

 then revealed to our eyes a nest composed of moss, 

 dead leaves, and chips of wood and bark, with two 

 round ivory eggs, spotted with red, lying on the top. 

 As we examined the nest we found five more eggs 

 lying hidden in the leaves and moss. The nest was not 

 woven together, but the materials were placed in a 

 miscellaneous heap, while the leaves and chips of 

 wood had been broken small by the bird, to enable it 

 to carry them through the narrow entrance. Another 

 nest, which we found high up in an elm tree, was 

 composed entirely of small flakes of yew bark, 

 gathered, doubtless, from an old yew tree hard by. 



The Nuthatch sits very closely upon its eggs, and 

 may be looked at without causing it to leave them. 

 It is bold, too, in the choice of a position for its nest 

 a hole in a tree by a road being often selected ; 

 and we have known one, in which young were reared, 

 that was situated a few feet above a seat, constantly 

 used by passers-by as a resting place. 



