NUT-CRACKER 



NUTMEG 



557 



It thus gives rise to the distinction of ' apparent ' 

 from ' mean ' right ascension and declination, the 

 former involving and the latter being freed from 

 the fluctuations arising from nutation. 



Bint-cracker (Nutifraga), a genus of birds of 

 the family Corvidte, with a straight, stout, conical 

 bill, both mandibles terminating in an obtuse 

 point, and tail nearly square at the end. Four 

 species are known, ranging from northern Europe 

 and Arctic Siberia to the Himalayas and China. 

 One species ( A r . caryocatactes ) is occasionally seen 

 in Britain and is not uncommon in many parts of 

 Europe and of Asia, particularly in mountainous 

 regions covered with pines. It is about 12 inches 

 long. The plumage is light brown, speckled with 

 white, except on the wings, rump, and tail, which 

 are nearly black. The female shows a somewhat 

 redder brown colour on the wing-feathers. The nut- 

 cracker frequents the tops of the high pine-trees, 

 its favourite food being the seeds of the pine cones, 

 which it extracts, holding the cone in its foot. 

 Its diet, however, is often very varied. Its nest 

 is built of stick's, roots, and grass, and lined with 

 moss or lichens, on the bough of a tree near the 



V V 



Nat-cncker ( Nvcifraga caryoeatactei). 



stem and at some distance from the ground. 

 A closely allied species (A", multipunctata ) is found 

 in Cashmere, and a larger species ' -V. hemitpila), 

 with browner plumage, in the Himalayas. 



Nut-Kails. See GALLS, GALL-PLY. 



Nut-hatch (Silta), a genus of birds of the 

 family Sittidte, having a straight conical or pris- 

 matic bill, short stout Tegs, the hind-toe very strong, 

 and large hooked claws. They run up and down 

 trees with great agility, moving with equal ease 

 in either direction, and without hopping, so that 

 the motion is rather like that of a mouse than 

 of a bird. They feed on insects, in pursuit of 

 which they examine the crevices and remove large 

 pieces of the bark ; at other times on seeds, as 

 those of pines, and the kernels of nuts, to obtain 

 which they fix the nut in some crevice and then 

 hammer it with their bill until the shell is broken, 

 each blow being delivered with the whole strength 

 of the body working from the hip-joint ; hence the 

 name of Nut-hatch or Nut-hack. Seventeen species 

 are known, ranging south in the Old World to 

 Southern India ami Burma, and in the New World to 

 Mexico, being well represented in North America. 

 One species (.?. caiia) is fairly common in many 

 districts of England containing old timlier. it 

 occurs in the south of Scotland, and has been 

 reported as seen in Skye and in the Shetlands ; 

 but as yet it is unknown in Ireland. . It extends 

 through central and southern Europe to Persia 

 and even south-eastern Siberia. Its whole length 

 is about 5J inches. The upper parts are generally 

 of a blue slate colour; the wing-quills grayish 



brown ; the middle tail-feathers more slate-gray, 

 the remainder black at their bases and barred and 



- 



Nut-hatch (Sitta ccetia). 



tipped with white and gray ; a black band runs 

 from the base of the bill through the eye to the 

 nape of the neck ; the throat and under parts are 

 of a pale cinnamon or rich buff colour ; the bill, 

 legs, and feet are brown. The plumage of the 

 female is somewhat duller. Its nest is made of 

 dry leaves or scales of cones, generally in the hole 

 of a tree. From five to seven eggs are laid, of a 

 white colour spotted with reddish brown. A closely 

 allied species ( 5. eiirofma ), with nearly white under 

 parts, is found in the Danish Islands and through- 

 out northern Europe and northern Asia as far 

 as Japan. The nut-hatch is absent from Malta 

 and Sardinia, but in Corsica a distinct species 

 (S. whiteheadi) is found, the under parts being 

 white and the head jet-black in the male. The 

 nut-hatches of Australia and New Guinea belong 

 to a distinct though closely allied genus, Sitella. 

 The Blue Nut-hatches (genus Dendrophila) are 

 found from Ceylon and India to Burma and 

 Malaya. The Coral-billed Nut-hatch, the only 

 species of another genus ( Hypherpes), is found only 

 in Madagascar. 



Nutmeg. This well-known and favourite spice 

 is the kernel mostly consisting of the albumen 

 of the fruit of several species of Myristica. This 

 genus belongs to a natural order of exogens called 

 Myristicaceae, which contains about forty species, 

 all tropical trees or shrubs, natives of Asia, Mada- 

 gascar, and America. They generally have red 

 juice, or a juice which becomes red on exposure 

 to air. The leaves are alternate and without 

 stipules. The flowers are unisexual, the perianth 

 generally trifid, the filaments united into a column. 

 The fruit is succulent, yet opens like a capsule 

 by two valves. The seed' is nut-like, covered with 

 a laciniated fleshy aril, the albumen penetrated by 

 its membranous covering. All the species are 

 more or .less aromatic in all their parts ; their juice 

 is styptic and somewhat acrid ; the albumen and 

 aril contain both a fixed and an essential oil, and 

 those of some species are used as spices. The 

 species which furnishes the greater part of the 

 nutmegs of commerce is M. fragrans ; but the long 

 nutmeg (M. futua), from the Banda Isles, is now 

 not uncommon in our markets. The common 

 nutmeg-tree is aliout 25 feet in height, with oblong 

 leaves and axillary few-flowered racemes ; the fruit 

 in of the size and appearance of a roundish pear, 

 golden yellow in colour when ripe. The fleshy 

 part of the fniit is rather hard, and is of a peculiar 

 consistence, resembling candied fruit ; it is often 

 preserved and eaten as a sweetmeat. Within is 

 the nut enveloped in the curious yellowish-red aril, 

 the Mace (q.v.), under which is a thin shining 

 brown shell, slightly grooved by the pressure of the 

 mace, and within is the kernel or nutmeg. Up to 



