KINGFISHER, SWALLOWS AND CLIMBERS 343 



brown bird with feeble. plainti\-e note 

 and mouse-like secretive habits ; it works 

 round to the opposite side of the trunk 

 (Hrectly one approaches the tree whose 

 bark it is searching for insects, and is 

 often passed by unnoticed. The best 

 way to refind a bird of this species, after 

 one has lost sight of it, is to stand quite 

 still, and give it time to reach the u})per- 

 most branches ; when it has ascended 

 thus high it will fly down \-ery nearly to 

 the ground level, and begin to hunt again 

 for food from the base of the same or of 

 a neighbouring tree. 



The Nuthatch also is well distributed 

 in well-wooded districts ; it excels all other 

 British birds in tree-climbing in that 

 it can work its way with equally apparent 

 ease up or down the trunk or boughs of 

 a tree. The special development of the 

 strong and much-curved hind claw is 

 thus justified. Its short tail is not 

 pointed as in the three former species, 

 nor are the feathers thereof stiff, but 

 soft and flexible. It has the undulating 

 flight of the Woodpeckers, 

 and like them is some- 

 what conspicuously col- 

 oured, being pale slaty 

 grey above, with a dis- 

 tinct black eye stripe, and 

 chestnut red under parts ; 

 the wing and tail feathers 

 are black, and the outer 

 feathers of the tail have 

 a white spot towards their 

 base. In winter it calls 

 attention to itself by a 

 sharp, though not shrill, 

 call- note — " whit, whit." 

 It nests in holes of trees, 

 the orifice of which it 

 adapts to the size of its 

 body by a stopping of 

 clay or mud. Sometimes, 

 though rarely, it avails 

 itself of a hole in masonry. 

 I saw one such recently 

 in the west wall of a wood- 

 land outhouse. The mud 

 plaster was cunningly con- 

 trived to match in colour 

 and surface level the ad- 

 jacent antique bricks and 

 mortar. 



Tree Creeper and Nut- 



hatch show their relationship to the 

 Tits in the colour antl markings of 

 their eggs. The Common Wren, though 

 now put in a family by itself, wa.<i 

 incorporated by Linnreus with the 

 Creepers, and in shape and make it is 

 not very unlike the Nuthatch. Its eggs, 

 too, are white with i)ink spots, though 

 deposited in a beautifully domed nest 

 of its own construction. The ap])earance 

 and habits of the bird itself are too well 

 known to require description, nor can it 

 well be confounded with any other of our 

 common birds. It may, howe\-er, be 

 news to some to find that the familiar 

 Cuckoo, better known by note and name 

 than sight, is connected with the climbers, 

 as shown by the fact that it possesses 

 what is called a zygodactyl foot, that is. the 

 outer hind toe is capable of being placed 

 at right angles with either the inner or 

 outer front toe. In flight the Cuckoo 

 might be mistaken for a Sparrow Hawk, 

 but its wings are comparatively shorter, 

 its wing flaps are much more incessant. 



N KST. 



