The Return of the Nuthatch 



13 



pearance of the camera within two feet of us for more than an hour, 

 during which time twelve exposures were made, still she repeated all her 



little tricks, not only once, but 

 several times. The series of 

 pictures is quite characteristic of 

 her manner of alighting and 

 clinging to the fingers, thence 

 making her way into mj^ hand, 

 very rarely flying directly into 

 it. Owing to her limited pow- 

 ers of steering, due, I suppose, 

 to the shortness of her tail-feath- 

 ers, she seems 

 to find it neces- 

 sary to assume 

 a particular pose 

 on a tree trunk 

 before essaying 

 flight to the, 

 hand. As for- 

 merly, she flies 

 away with what 

 she cannot, or 



does not 

 want to, eat 

 at once, and 

 hides it in 

 the trees for 

 future use, 

 coming 

 quickly back 

 for more. 



I feel sure 

 it is the same bird, because 

 the first day of her reappearance 

 I was attracted by her evident 

 desire to draw my attention to 

 herself. As I was at the time 

 in the company of several small 

 boys, to whose presence she 

 always rather objected, I did 

 not attempt to call her to me; 

 but the next day, at the same 

 place, being alone, I held out 

 my hand, and she immediately, 

 without hesitation, flew to it for the nuts therein, and stayed with me 

 until I was obliged to leave her. I have never seen her fly to anybody 

 else, and all who have seen her with me have been thoroughly convinced 

 that she recognized me. 



WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, SHOWING CHARAC- 

 TERISTIC POSES ASSUMED WHEN ALIGHTING 



