THE XI THATCH. 31 



insects and their larva?. The manner in which they oltain 

 the kernel of the nut is very interesting. When a nut has 

 been obtained, it is placed in a crevice of the bark of a 

 tree, or in a crack of slit of a paling or gate-post, and by 

 continuous knockings with its hard bill, by dint of perse- 

 verance the most stubborn shell is at length broken and 

 the contents extracted. They, like squirrels, often lay up 

 a stock of nuts for a possible '* rainy day ;** and if nuts be 

 placed in suitable positions near their haunts, Nuthatches 

 will often find them out, break the shells, and eat them. 

 It is during this operation that they make the peculiar 

 rapping noise that has so often attracted attention. The 

 stroke of their bills against the hard shell of the nut can be 

 heard upwards of two hundred yards away. 



The nest of the Nuthatch is placed in a hole in a tree or 

 old stump, and even at times in a hay-rick. The nest is 

 not very artistic ; but if the hole by which it is approached 

 be too large, these birds will, with most exemplary patience, 

 build it up with mud or clay, after the manner of House 

 Martens, until they leave just sufficient room for the pur- 

 pose of ingress and egress. The nest proper is built of dry 

 leaves, moss, bits of bark and wood, and sometimes a few 

 dry bents of grass. The eggs vary in number from five to 

 nine, and are of an oval form, greyish-white in colour, but 

 spotted, and even at times much blotched, with reddish- 

 brown. The young resemble their parents, but are not so 

 handsome. 



The song of the Nuthatch is but slight, yet plaintive, 

 and only to be heard during breeding-time ; its call-note, 

 which is often repeated, resembles the phrase " Whit- 

 whit-whit/' 



Although undulating, the flight of these birds, possibly 



