NUTHATCHES. 



439 



hairs ; bristles are present at the rictus of the gape ; there are twelve tail-feathers ; 

 and the first and second toes are of very unequal lengths. In all the group there 

 is but one annual moult, and the plumage of the nestling resembles that of the 

 female ; while in most cases the coloration of the plumage is different in the two 

 sexes. With the exception of South America and Africa south of the Sahara, nut- 

 hatches are pretty generally distributed, extending to Australasia. They are small 

 climbing birds, with the first toe greatly developed, and the second proportionately 

 shortened ; and feed both on insects and nuts. Resident in their habits, they nest 

 in the holes of trees or the crevices of rocks, very generally reducing the size of the 

 aperture of the hole by building it up with mud. In addition to the type genus, 

 the family is represented by the Australian genus Sitella, and likewise by a third 

 known as Hypositta. 



common Abundant in many parts of Central and Southern Europe, as 



Nuthatch, ft j s { n England, in the spring of the year the common nuthatch 

 (Sitta ccesia) invariably indi- 

 cates its whereabouts by its 

 merry call-note, which rings far 

 and wide through the beech 

 woods, which the bird chiefly 

 frequents. The nuthatch pairs 

 at the close of winter, and chooses 

 for its nesting - site a hole in 

 some hollow tree, plastering up 

 the entrance with clay, and 

 only leaving a small orifice 

 through which the birds pass 

 into the nest ; the interior of 

 the nest being lined with dry 

 beech leaves. The eggs are 

 white, spotted with bright red ; 

 and, when the young are fledged, 

 they live for a time with their 

 parents, but soon become in- 

 dependent, and rove through the woods in company with tits and other small birds. 

 If a nuthatch be watched, it will be found that it sometimes perches across a 

 bough like any little singing bird ; but when feeding it generally runs up and down 

 the trunk of old trees something like a woodpecker. The call-note of the nuthatch is 

 a loud tivet twet, which may be compared to the words fetch it, fetch it, but this 

 cry must not be confused with the spring whistle of the male. If encouraged, 

 it becomes a tame and confiding bird, laying aside much of its fear of man, 

 and readily learning to avail itself of the resources of civilisation. In winter, 

 especially, the nuthatch approaches dwelling-houses, and willingly partakes of 

 scraps of food with tits. During the summer it feeds chiefly upon insects, 

 but in autumn subsists more upon nuts and beech-mast. Few sights are 

 prettier than to watch a nuthatch opening nuts ; the bird swinging its body freely 

 forward as it brings down its long bill with accuracy on the right part of the shell. 



NUTHATCH. 



