u6 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



not a long tongue as the other [the Woodpecker kind] because 

 she feeds not on Cossi as they do, but on other insects, and 

 especially on nut-kernels. It is a pretty sight to see her 

 fetch a nut out of her hoard, place it in a chink and then 

 stand over it with her head downward, strike it with all her 

 might, and breaking the shell, catch up the kernel. The 

 feathers of her tail are not stiff and pointed, because her 

 motion is rather down than up trees ; nor hath she two 

 hind toes, but the inner toe is separated a little from the 

 middle, and falls somewhat across (as in the Owl kind) 

 whereby she can support herself in any motion. Her voice 

 is very shrill. Mr. Johnson." (Willughby " Orn." 1678, p. 23.) 

 Thomas Allis, 1844, wrote : 



Sitta europaea. European Nuthatch By no means common. 

 J. and W. Tuke report that it breeds at Castle Howard ; scarce near 

 Leeds, but is met with at Scarcroft and Harewood Bridge ; it is rare 

 at Sheffield ; it occurs near Doncaster, and is frequently met with in 

 the Stainborough Woods at Wentworth Castle, the seat of Thos. T. V. 

 Wentworth, Esq. 



This interesting little bird is very local, somewhat irregular 

 in its distribution, and nowhere very common. In the 

 southern portions of the county it is a scarce species, though 

 formerly abundant in Stainborough Park, near Barnsley, 

 where it is still known. Near Sheffield, Doncaster, Ackworth, 

 and several other localities it is occasionally met with 

 and nests very sparingly. In the central districts it has 

 undoubtedly increased in numbers and become more widely 

 distributed in recent years ; it nests in the neighbourhood 

 of Leeds, and in the valleys of the Nidd and Lower Wharfe 

 it is fairly numerous ; it breeds annually at Plump ton, 

 Newton Kyme, Allerton Park, Rudding Park, Ribston 

 Park, Knaresborough, Harrogate, Ripley, Harewood, the 

 Washburn valley, and other well timbered districts, where 

 it can obtain suitable nesting trees ; it is also found at 

 Eavestone and at Studley Park. In the north-west it is 

 extremely rare, though it has been noticed at Bolton-by- 

 Bowland. 



It occurs fairly regularly round York, as at Moreby and 



