CHAPTER IV 



RED-LETTER DAYS AMONG BIRDS 



BIRDS having first attracted my youthful attention, they occupy 

 pride of place among my natural history experiences. A con- 

 tinuous and loving study of the feathered population for a period 

 of over thirty-seven years has proved one of the most pleasant 

 and profitable of outdoor recreations, and, whilst I am now a 

 field naturalist, intensely occupied in surveying everything that 

 crosses my path, I make no secret of the fact that birds still 

 make a strong appeal to my finer senses. 



In the chapter that follows I have recorded my impressions 

 of the songs of birds, so that I am relieved at this part of my 

 story from relating my red-letter days so far as they concern 

 the minstrelsy of my feathered companions of field and 

 hedgerow. 



Among birds, the Nuthatch is, as its name implies, a lover 

 of nuts, and I have frequently watched this interesting arboreal 

 species collecting nuts, and storing them up for Winter use. The 

 Nuthatch is a small, orange-and-grey coloured bird, found in 

 woods, parks, and large gardens. It is the owner of a bayonet- 

 like bill, and, by means of this, it is well able to drill a hole in the 

 shell of the nut, and extract the kernel. For Winter use, it places 

 the nuts in the hole of a tree, between branches, or in the crevices 

 of bark. It seems to have a liking for favourite feeding-places, 

 and a certain oak tree I have known for many years always con- 

 tains a good supply of hazel nuts during the Winter, all of which 

 are placed in the crevices of the bark by this industrious bird. 

 A hole is ingeniously drilkd in the hard, brown shell, the latter 

 not being split asunder as one might suppose. 



For many years I have studied in some detail the life story of 

 the Cuckoo, and, as each Spring comes round, the reader will 

 probably be aware of the unfailing regularity with which our 

 newspapers report this harbinger's arrival upon our shores. 



For years I have written and announced in public that these 

 wonderful early Cuckoos should be regarded with grave suspicion, 



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