118 BIRDS OF MIDDLESEX. 



mast, and then hammer at them and extract the 

 kernels. I think it not unlikely, therefore, that the 

 bird observed by Mr. Power was carrying the acorns 

 to a similar crevice, the more easily to get at the 

 contents. A writer in * The Field Naturalists' 

 Magazine ' states that he has noticed this bird in 

 Kensington Gardens ; and Mr. Yarrell, in his ' His- 

 tory of British Birds,' observes that it is common 

 there. 



Mr. Bond says that the Nuthatch, particularly 

 during May, oftentimes sits upon the dead bough of 

 a tree, and from thence darts into the air to seize 

 the passing insects like a Flycatcher. It is much 

 more expert in climbing than the Woodpeckers. I 

 have never seen one of the latter birds descend a 

 tree head first, but the Nuthatch will climb in every 

 direction. 



Family CUCULID^E. 



CUCKOO, Cuculus canorus. A regular summer 

 visitant, generally appearing about the 23rd April, 

 and leaving us in Aegust. Yarrell asserts that 

 Cuckoos do not pair. On several occasions I have 

 seen two Cuckoos in company, one chasing the 

 other, and always supposed that they were male and 

 female ; but an observant friend writing to me upon 

 the subject, says: "I believe Yarrell to be right 

 in saying the Cuckoo does not pair. I have 



