THE NUTHATCH 45 



gravity than a fly. Arrived at the main stem it keeps on its course, still 

 advancing by starts, and accompanying every movement, as, indeed, 

 it has been doing all along, by an almost imperceptible twinkling of 

 its wings, something like that which has gained for the Hedge 

 Sparrow the sobriquet of ' Shuffle-wing '. That no other bird but 

 the Nuthatch has the power of creeping down a tree I cannot say, 

 for I once observed a Tree-creeper descend for a few inches • but no 

 other British bird does habitually hunt after this method ; by 

 this habit consequently it may be discriminated. Equally com- 

 fortable in all positions, if it has any choice, or desires to rest, it 

 clings to the upright trunk of a tree, head downwards. 



The Nuthatch is singular, too, in its mode of nidification. The 

 only nest which I have thoroughly examined was built in the 

 hollow of an apple-tree, and was composed entirely of scraps of 

 birch-bark. The Naturalist contains a description of one made 

 of beech-bark, though probably here, too, birch is meant ; others 

 are described as being made of dry leaves and moss : but, what- 

 ever the materials may be, the nest itself is invariably placed in 

 the hole of a tree. There are good reasons for believing that in 

 case of necessity the bird enlarges the cavity to make its dwelling 

 sufficiently commodious, chips of wood having been sometimes 

 found in the vicinity ; but what makes the Nuthatch singular 

 among British birds is, that it not only enacts the carpenter when 

 occasion arises, but adds the vocation of plasterer. 



In the case above alluded to I do not know that its powers were 

 called out in either of these capacities. As a plasterer it had no 

 occasion to work, for the opening to the hole was so small that it 

 required to be cut away in order to admit a boy's hand, but many 

 instances are recorded when it selected a hole with a large orifice 

 which is contracted by lining it with a thick coat of mud and gravel. 

 This parapet, constructed either to keep out bulky intruders or to 

 keep in the young birds, if injured or destroyed will be found restored 

 after a short lapse of time ; and so devoted a mother is the hen bird 

 that she will suffer herself to be taken rather than desert her brood. 

 I have rarely noticed a Nuthatch on the ground during winter, 

 but in spring and summer it adds to its diet terrestrial insects and 

 worms and is said also to be partial to red currants — not a singular 

 taste. But the fruit which has an especial charm for the Nuthatch 

 is that from which it derives its name. 1 Its keen eye detects the 

 ripening filbert in the garden or orchard before the hazels in the 

 wood are beginning to turn brown, and it then despises less dainty 

 food. One by one the clusters are pecked open and their contents 

 purloined, carried, perhaps, to some convenient storehouse for future 

 banquetings. At any rate the owner of filbert trees where these 

 birds abound has need to keep a daily watch, or his share in the 



1 From the French hacher, ' to chop ' ; hence also ' hatchet '. 



