TVoodland Birds 



It seems a matter of indifference to him whether 

 his head is uppermost or not, whether he is above 

 a branch or beneath it ; the law of gravitation 

 appears for once to be at fault. Such behaviour 

 might well lead the beginner to suppose him to be 

 a Woodpecker, but the arrangement of the toes 

 proves that he is a true percher. Three point 

 forwards and one back, while those of the Wood- 

 pecker are evenly distributed. A further dis- 

 tinction lies in the fact that the Nuthatch makes 

 no use of his tail while climbing, and the feathers 

 are consequently soft and pliant. 



In colouring, too, he is quite different. From 

 the crown of his head to the tip of the centre tail 

 feathers he is uniformly slate-blue above, while the 

 underparts deepen from an ashy grey under the 

 chin and throat to a light fawn colour on the 

 breast, which, in its turn, gives place to chestnut at 

 the flanks. The contrast is heightened by a black 

 eye-stripe which extends from the beak some 

 distance down the neck. 



The nest is always placed in a hole, generally in 

 the trunk of the tree, sometimes in a large bough 

 and occasionally in a wall, and if the entrance hole 

 is too large to suit the bird's taste, he plasters it 

 up with mud till it is the right size. Apart from 

 this curious habit, the building operations are not 

 elaborate. A few leaves, flakes of bark or chips, 

 when the bird has to enlarge the hole, are the 

 only materials used, and on this rough litter the 

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