stand one another, for they have varying notes to indicate joy, 

 fear, love, anger and pain which are all well known to observers 

 of birds. Surely the birds must be able to interpret the speech 

 of their own kind. 



There are few birds more sociable than Nuthatches for 

 they are seldom long quiet. Even when separated by several 

 intervening trees, a pair of them maintain a constant flow of 

 small talk. Their most common note is yank, yank, yank, 

 uttered in a hoarse gutteral tone varied in the mating season 

 with tsink, tsink, fsink and "hah-hah-hah", a sort of artificial 

 laugh. 



Few birds are more familiar to the woodsman in winter 

 than the Nuthatches. If you go near a flock of them they will 

 pause in their search for food only long enough to have a good 

 look at you. Their curiosity may lead one of them to descend 

 the tree to a point near you, where with head thrust out hori- 

 zontally like a snake, it seems to be inquiring what you want. 

 After concluding that you are harmless, it turns again picking 

 up food as it goes and zigzags up the tree to its companions 

 to whom it reports in classic yank, yanks that the creature 

 below is only a man. 



The name Nuthatch describes a habit of this bird. It 

 breaks open or "hatches" chestnuts and acorns to get the 

 worms that may be within. It has not a single bad habit. It 

 is helpful and helpful only, and he who kills one or disturbs 

 its nest is cruel to a valuable servant who is willing to work 

 for him twelve months in the year without any pay. 



S3 



