172 



THE NUTHATCH. 



and hazel-nuts. The strokes which he makes with his 

 hard bill in endeavouring to crack the shells are among 



the well-known and 

 pleasant sounds of the 

 forest. He breeds in 

 '' old trees, and some- 

 ^ times selects the cav- 

 ity abandoned by the 

 woodpecker. If the 

 hole leading to his 

 nest be too large, he 

 closes up a part of the 

 entrance with mud, 

 NUTHATCH. Isavlng it just wide 



enough to admit himself or his mate, and constructing a 

 kind of barrier which prevents his too eager nestlings 

 from falling out of the cradle and being killed on the spot. 



The Fringillidre, or thick-billed birds, are specially 

 characteristic of the European Bird World, and furnish 

 us with our finest and most famous songsters ; with those 

 winged messengers of music of whom the poet sings : — 



" Hark ! how the cheerful birds do chant their lays, 

 And carol of Love's praise. 

 The merry lark her matins sings aloft ; 

 The thrush replies ; the mavis descant plays ; 

 The ousel shrills ; the redbreast warbles soft : 

 So goodly all agree with sweet consent 

 To this day's merriment." — Spenser. 



All the finches are small birds, active and restless, with 

 an undulatory flight which is not protracted to any con- 



