CERTHIAD^E. 121 



troduce him to their attention. His bold and somewhat 

 startling note, " Twit, twit, twit," uttered with quick repeti- 

 tion may first indicate his proximity; and the delicate plum- 

 coloured blue tint of the upper part of his body, and pale- 

 orange of the under, with the lengthened and pointed form 

 of his bill, and his facility of running either up or down the 

 trunks and branches of the trees, are features by which he 

 may be readily identified. This little bird (about the size 

 of a Eobin) has the habit of fixing a nut or filbert in some 

 crevice of the rough bark of a tree, and then, with his 

 sharply pointed and lengthened bill, endeavouring to pene- 

 trate its shell and obtain the kernel. Often have we 

 noticed the Nuthatches thus employed in our garden; and 

 their handsome appearance, sprightly manners, and indus- 

 trious habits have rendered them ever welcome visitors. 

 The Nuthatch breeds in holes of time-worn trees, and where 

 the entrance to its nesting-place is too large, it plasters it 

 up with clay to the required dimensions. The nest consists 

 of a few dry leaves, with perhaps a little grass; and the eggs, 

 from five to seven in number, are white, spotted or blotched 

 with red. They differ from those of the Great Tit a little 

 in form, and also in generally being more boldly marked 

 with colour. (PI. VI. fig. 28.) 



