THE NUTHATCH 65 



the rugged trunks of the forest trees the snow has lodged in 

 the rifts of the bark, and every branch and twig of the hedge- 

 rows is clothed in a fair frostwork of silver filagree. Drops 

 of water glisten like diamonds in the yellow sunlight as they 

 tremble on the branches ; and every now and then one is 

 startled by a mass of snow falling from the trees. Animals, 

 the shyest of the shy, that once betrayed themselves by rust- 

 ling amongst the carpet of autumn leaves, now steal silently 

 away, their presence only revealed by their tracks left upon 

 the snow. The rabbits have been gamboling here; there a 

 hare has passed hurriedly along to her warm " seat " in the 

 hedgerow. Yonder a stoat has skipped from his asylum in 

 the stoneheap in search of his breakfast ; whilst on every side 

 are to be seen the little footprints of birds. The soft fleecy 

 snow is everywhere ; but still we may be sure of finding the 

 Nuthatch in the woods. 



In a manner precisely similar to a Titmouse, the Nuthatch 

 explores the chinks and crevices of the bark, now running 

 from side to side, then upwards in spiral course, anon down- 

 wards with head pointing to the ground, for he is equally at 

 home when climbing with his tail or his head uppermost. 

 You will observe that he seldom or never supports himself 

 with his tail feathers as the Woodpeckers and Creepers do. 

 He is a restless little creature, by no means shy, yet suffi- 

 ciently wary to be far more often heard than seen. I have 

 often observed the Nuthatch explore buds and twigs for 

 insects and larvae, as well as the big branches and trunks. 



The food of the Nuthatch is largely composed of insects 

 and grubs, but in autumn nuts of various kinds, acorns, fir- 

 cones, and the stones of various fruits and berries. It is very 

 clever at breaking open the hard shell of nuts, generally 

 carrying them off to some favourite chink or crevice in a tree 

 or post, where by diligent hammering with its strong beak 

 it soon cracks them. The ground below soon gets thickly 



5 



