1G8 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



The pretty little Nuthatch acts in different 

 fashion to all these. With its bright slaty back, 

 orange breast, and black bill, it is quite a 

 handsome bird, and the country children call 

 it "nutjobber." Essentially a bird of the 

 hazel-copse, he may almost always be found 

 there if you invade his haunts. That gnarled 

 and twisted gate-stoop is weathered out of all 

 original conception. There are gaping crevices 

 on its surface, and the Nuthatch has lon<>* 

 utilized these. Let us lie here under the bushes 

 and wait for his coming. 



Everywhere the half-grown pheasants are 

 feeding— wandering in search of beech-mast, 

 or digging up ant-hills to come at the hidden 

 larvae. The Dormouse nimbly runs along a 

 branch, and is soon lost in the foliage. There 

 a tiny mouse-like Creeper clings to a lichened 

 bole, and Pigeons are coming and going 

 among the beeches. A Jay chatters from the 

 glade, and flies from clump to clump with its 

 heavy flight and harsh cries. Partridges are 

 scratching among the brown loam; and now 

 and then rabbits pop in and out of the green 

 brackens. Presently the Nuthatch flits to the 

 old gate-post, and fixes a nut in the crevice* 



