70 Bird Comrades 



ings are quite similar. In Syria it is common as far north 

 as the southern shores of the Black Sea. Although some- 

 what shy, it is described as having "sprightly manners 

 and a clear, ringing trill." Odd indeed are some of 

 nature's evolutions, I had almost said caprices, for the 

 rock nuthatch is just as much at home and apparently 

 just as happy on its bleak precipices as is our merry white- 

 breast in his umbrageous home in the oak or maple forest. 



But what kind of nests do the rock nuthatches con- 

 struct on their limestone walls ? That is one of the most 

 interesting features of the life of these birds. One writer* 

 who has observed them in their native haunts describes 

 the rock nuthatch as " an expert clay mixer and molder." 

 The bird does not chisel out a nursery in the rock no, 

 indeed; his method of constructing his nest is as follows: 

 Having found a little hollow or indentation on the rocky 

 wall, he will erect a cap or dome of mortar over it, plaster- 

 ing the structure so firmly against the surface that no 

 rain or storm or predaceous creeping thing can demolish 

 it until long after it has been abandoned by the little 

 architect. The circular base of the nest is ten or twelve 

 inches in diameter. The dome is not entirely closed up, 

 but a small orifice is left in the center, upon the edges 

 of which a narrow neck or funnel, also made of mortar, 

 is raised, the hole just large enough to admit the body 

 of the bird. The funnel is about three inches long. 



The building material employed is fine clay softened 

 and glutinated with the bird's saliva and mixed with 



*The writer referred to is Mr. H. C. Tracy, to whose charming article in " The Wilson 

 Bulletin," published at Oberlin, Ohio, I am indebted for all my material on the rock nuthatch. 



