BIRDS. 157 



remarkable for a habit of twisting the neck with a 

 slow undulatory movement, like that of a snake, turn- 

 ing its head back and closing its eyes. In 1865 a pair 

 of these birds built their nest in a hole in an apple-tree 

 in an orchard near Burnham. The female was caught 

 one day while sitting on her eggs and carried to Eton, 

 where it was sold to a gentleman who set it at liberty. 

 Its captor observed the bird on the apple-tree the 

 next morning, and as he had marked it there could 

 have been no mistake. Instinct had enabled this 

 bird to find its way back again, after having been 

 carried in the boy's pocket a distance of seven miles. 



The little "Creeper" 1 is a still smaller bird, of 

 rather livelier habits, often seen clinging to the rough 

 bark of an old elm, and advancing by short jerks. 

 As it climbs it searches every crevice, proceeding up- 

 wards, now on one side, and now on the other. At 

 length it reaches the branches and moves along them, 

 sometimes on the top, but as often beneath, hanging 

 on meanwhile with its back towards the ground. 

 Thus like a mouse it creeps over the tree, uttering at 

 times a shrill and feeble cry, and then flies off to 

 another, commencing again at the base. 



The " Nuthatch " 2 is a rarer and more local bird, 

 although it remains throughout the year. It has the 

 same habit of creeping up the bark of trees, but differs 

 in one respect from the other climbers in the readi- 

 ness with which it passes downwards head foremost. 

 Its food is not by any means confined to insects, 

 but is varied with nuts and seeds. One writer says, 



1 Certhia familiaris. 2 Sit fa Europaa. 



