NUTHATCH. 41 



that the less spotted woodpecker does the same. This noise 

 may be heard a furlong or more. * 



Now is the only time to ascertain the short-winged summer 

 birds ; for, when the leaf is out, there is no making any remarks 

 on such a restless tribe ; and, when once the young begin to 

 appear, it is all confusion ; there is no distinction of genus, 

 species, or sex. 



In breeding time, snipes play over the moors, piping and 

 humming ; they always hum as they are descending. Is not 

 their hum ventriloquous, like that of the turkey ? Some suspect 

 that it is made by their wings, f 



This morning, I saw the golden-crowned wren, whose crown 



Prestwick Car, near Newcastle, in 1794; and Selby has one, which was 

 shot at North Sunderland, in 1818. 



Under the craw of the turtle dove, are placed glands, which secrete a 

 lacteal fluid, probably common to all the genus. ED. 



* A nuthatch, which had been accidentally winged by a sportsman, 

 was kept in a small cage of plain oak wood and wire. During a night 

 and a day in which he was in captivity, his tapping labour was incessant ; 

 and after occupying his prison for that short time, he left the wood-work 

 pierced and worn like worm-eaten timber. He manifested extreme 

 impatience at his situation ; he was unremitting in his endeavours to 

 effect his escape, and in these efforts exhibited much intelligence and 

 cunning. He was fierce, fearlessly bold, and eat voraciously of food 

 which was placed before him. At the close of the third day, he sank 

 under the combined effects of vexation, assiduous labour, and voracious 

 appetite. This nuthatch was peculiarly laborious under his confinement, 

 and pecked in a manner different from all other birds ; " grasping hard 

 with his immense feet, he turned upon them as upon a pivot, and struck 

 with the whole weight of his body." 



Mr Bree informs us, that having caught a nuthatch in the common 

 brick trap used by boys, he was struck with the 4 singular appearance of 

 its bill. It was so obliquely obtuse at the point, that it had the appearance 

 of being cut off, which he had no doubt was produced by its efforts to 

 escape. No persecution will force this bold little bird from its nest 

 during 'incubation. It defends it with determined courage; strikes the 

 intruder with its bill and wings, making all the while a loud hissing noise, 

 and will allow itself to be taken in the hand rather than yield. ED. 



j* The sound proceeds from the throat, and not the wings. Montagu 

 says, " in the breeding season the snipe changes its note entirely from 

 that it makes in winter. The male will keep on the wing for an hour 

 together, mounting like a lark, uttering a shrill piping noise; it then 

 descends with great velocity, making a bleating sound, not unlike an old 

 goat, which is repeated alternately round the spot possessed by the female, 

 especially while she is sitting on her nest." En. 



5 3/./|T. o/Kat. Hist. i. p. 328 ; ii. 213 



