96 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



the weasel, and the British schoolboy, with his fertile invention 

 and ready limbs. Starlings which choose such situations are 

 strangely indifferent to observation, and are so noisy in all their 

 conversation, that they may be heard at a distance of several 

 hundred yards. 



One or two other British birds must be mentioned, because 

 they lay their eggs in excavations either natural or artificial. 

 There is the elegant little Tree Creeper (Oerihia familiaris), so 

 well known for its delicate form, its slender and slightly-curved 

 beak, and the great agility with which it traverses the trunks of 

 trees. The nest of this bird is mostly placed in the hollow of 

 some decaying tree, and is of rather more ambitious a character 

 than is generally found with birds which lay their eggs in simi- 

 lar situations, being formed of moss, grass, and other soft vegeta- 

 ble substances, and lined with downy feathers. There are about 

 seven or eight eggs, which are small and of a light gray, varie- 

 gated ,with brownish dots. 



The short-bodied, stout-beaked, strong-limbed Nut-hatch (Sit- 

 ta Europaza) is another example of the semi-burrowers, inasmuch 

 as it always chooses the hollow of a decaying tree for its nursery. 

 The general habits of this curious little bird are very well known, 

 and as they bear but very slightly on the principle of nesting, 

 there is no need to mention them in this place. 



The cavity which the bird selects is usually one which has but 

 a very small entrance ; and it is said that when the orifice is too 

 large, the mother bird lessens it by kneading clay into the sides. 

 It has already been mentioned that the wry-neck defends its nest 

 by the simulation of offensive powers, though it is, in truth, a 

 very harmless bird, without the means to work an injury to an 

 enemy. The Nut-hatch defends its home with equal success, but 

 not by the same deception ; for whenever an enemy approaches 

 too closely to the nest, out clashes the bird in a state of wild ex- 

 citement, darts at the intruder, and pecks so fiercely with its pow- 

 erful beak, that it can drive away any ordinary foe. The bite 

 which the Nut-hatch can inflict is of no trifling force; for the 

 beak is strong enough to crack the shell of any nut, and when 

 employed on softer substances, is very apt to leave behind it a 

 tangible mark of its powers. 



The nest of the Nut-hatch is hardly deserving of the name, for 



