NUTHATCH. 191 



with a pin is a great temptation. If old birds are caught 

 and caged, though they will feed readily on almost any- 

 thing that is given them, they soon kill themselves by 

 their unceasing exertions to escape ; but the young birds 

 are easily reared : and Sir William Jardine relates that 

 " he had lately an opportunity of observing a nest of our 

 native species which had been taken young. They became 

 remarkably tame ; and when released from their cage, 

 would run over their owner in all directions, up or down 

 his body and limbs, poking their bills into seams or holes, 

 as if in search of food upon some old and rent tree, and 

 uttering, during the time, a low and plaintive cry. When 

 running up or down, they rest upon the back part of the 

 whole tarsus, and make great use as a support of what 

 may be called the real heel, and never use the tail. When 

 roosting, they sleep with the head and back downwards, in 

 the manner of several Titmice." The Nuthatch has fre- 

 quent and obstinate battles with some species of the Tits, 

 for the possession of a favourite locality for nesting, and 

 this may be a reason for plastering up a considerable por- 

 tion of a large external aperture, as the smallest breach is 

 the most easily defended. 



Some observations on the Nuthatch by the Rev. J. C. 

 Atkinson, are thus recorded in the 1st volume of the 

 Zoologist. A pair were induced to visit a particular tree 

 by fixing nuts in the bark for them ; "the birds attended 

 regularly : they were there the first thing in the morning, 

 and apparently the last thing before going to roost. See- 

 ing that the nuts were carried away whole, I began to 

 crack them, and fix the kernel only in the crevices, or by 

 means of pins to the tree. The greater part of the nuts 

 were now eaten on the spot; occasionally, when a large 

 piece was got, the birds flew away with it to some tall 

 trees close by, but very soon returned for more. Their 



