168 NUT-HATCH. KING-FISHER. 



insect by protruding its long red tongue, on which the 

 ants settle with avidity, and are immediately drawn into 

 its throat. 



This bird builds its nest in the cavities of trees, and 

 lays five or six eggs. Jt forms its mansion with much 

 neatness ; but uses neither straw, feathers, nor any other 

 kind of lining. However, the woodpeckers of Guinea 

 and Brazil suspend their nests from the extremities of 

 trees with matchless art and contrivance, in order to 

 secure the eggs and young from the depredations of mon- 

 keys and serpents. 



THE NUT-HATCH. 



This bird, which is a native of England, and various 

 parts of Europe, is about six inches long, and the expan- 

 sion of its wings nine. The bill is long and straight ; the 

 crown of the head, the back, and the coverts of the 

 wings, are of a fine bluish grey ; and the breast and belly 

 of a dull orange colour. 



Dr. Plott, in his Natural History of Oxfordshire, says 

 that this bird, by inserting its bill into the crack of a tree, 

 can utter a violent sound, or noise, as if the wood were 

 splitting, which may be heard at a considerable distance. 

 It possesses the faculty of running up and down the 

 trunks of trees, and feeds not only on insects, but nuts ; 

 of which latter it lays up a store in the cavities of trees, 

 where it builds its nest. In autumn, it begins to make a 

 kind of chattering noise ; but is silent during the greater 

 part of the year. 



THE KING-FISHER. 



Numberless instances might be produced of the credu- 

 lity of former ages with respect to this bird. It is the 

 halcyon of the ancient naturalists, which was fabled to 

 build its nest on the waves during the most tranquil sea- 

 sons ; and hence the poets have, in all ages, used the term 

 halcyon days to denote a state of peace and felicity. The 

 fictions which originated in pagan ignorance have been 



