TREE-CREEPER—HOOPOE. 257 



was put in a cage, when, without loss of time, it began bat- 

 tering the woodwork just as it 

 would have done a nutshell, and 

 persevered till it died, more from 

 fatigue than hunger, for they are 

 bold birds and feed readily. In 

 America it is said that they can 

 be tamed, and will creep up and 

 down their owner's body, poking 



,,...„ . J ' 1 ° The Nuthatch. 



their bills into seams and button- 

 holes just as they do on trees in their wild state. 



The Certhia, or Tree-creeper, like the Nuthatch, glides up 

 and down the stems of trees ; but so far from having a bill 

 strong enough to crack a nut, it is so feeble that the shell of 

 a beetle's wing would resist its powers ; but it is admirably 

 adapted for its mode of life. The little Tree-creeper looks 

 more like a mouse than a bird, as it runs in silence up and 

 down a bough in search of minute insects ; and so beneficial 

 has it been found in ridding trees of noxious insects, that in 

 America, where it seems to be more abundant than with us, 

 a box is placed at the top of a long pole, to entice it to build 

 in gardens, where it makes itself a very welcome guest. 



The Bee-eaters are so rarely seen in England, as scarcely to 

 be considered British birds ; but when once seen can never be 

 mistaken or forgotten, brilliant as they are with blue and 

 green of various shades, tinged by beautifully reflected lights. 

 As its name implies, it lives upon bees and other insects, which 

 it catches on the wing. 



The Hoopoe is another elegant bird, very scarce, but not 

 quite so rare as the Bee-eater. One was some years ago caught 

 on Salisbury Plain in a weak and exhausted state : it must 

 have come from a distance, as its beak was filled with red clay, 

 of a quality not found in that neighbourhood. If fatigued 

 from the journey it had performed, the distance must have 

 been very great ; for one approached a vessel in the middle of 

 the Atlantic, and kept company with it a good way, but did 

 not settle on board, which it probably would have done had 

 it been tired. 



R 



