NUTHATCH. 



107 



by the movements of a bird with a slaty blue back and fawn- 

 coloured belly, which was flitting about the trunk of a large 

 beech-tree. 



' : What bird is that, Jimmy ? " he asked. 



" It is a nuthatch. Let us watch it, and perhaps we may see 

 its nest" 



After a little while they saw it disappear into a hole in a 

 neighbouring tree. Coin? up to this, they found that it was 



NUTHATCH. 



its nest, and that it was made after a fashion peculiar to these 

 pretty birds. The nest was built in a hole in a tree, but the 

 hole being larger than was required by the birds, they had built 

 up the entrance with mud, like that which forms a swallow's 

 nest, leaving an aperture only just large enough for the old 

 birds to get in and out. Dick got on Jimmy's shoulders, and 

 broke away a piece of mud, so that he could get his hand in. 



" There are five eggs, white with brown spots, and I have 

 caught the old bird on." 





