112 BIRDS OF MARLBOROUGH. 



then, the hole has been occupied successively by a Nuthatch, 

 a Starling, a Great Tit, and a Blue Tit. 



Picus minor. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. 

 This bird has been seen several times in the Forest, but 

 its eggs have not yet been taken. 



Yunx torquilla. Wryneck. 



Has been seen at Oare, and its eggs have been taken in 

 the Forest. 



Certhia familiaris. Common Creeper. 

 This bird, in common with almost all others that build in 

 holes of old trees, is to be found in the Forest in great num- 

 bers. It is particularly partial to the beech avenues, where it 

 may be seen running over some twenty trees in succession, 

 almost always beginning its search at the bottom of the tree 

 next to that it has last visited. 



Troglodytes vnlgaris. Common Wren. 



Sitta europaea. Nuthatch. 



Common in the Forest, where its presence is usually de- 

 tected by the ear sooner than by the eye. The smart taps 

 this small bird is able to make on the hard oak may be heard 

 at a distance of fifty yards. It is particularly partial to 

 deserted Woodpeckers' holes, which it always plasters up 

 with clay till they are just sufficient to admit its own 

 body; this clay soon becomes extremely hard, and is 

 then a sure protection against larger birds. Sometimes, 

 however, the Nuthatch is deprived of its dwelling before its 

 labours are completed. In 1859 a Nuthatch was observed 

 busily engaged in plastering up the Woodpeckers' hole in 

 the Grand Avenue mentioned above. It had already 

 lessened the circumference of the hole by a layer of mud 

 two inches thick all round, and a couple of days' more labour 



