NUTHATCH. 



63 



Die Spechtmeise, Schmid Vog. p. 62. t, 50. 



Picchio grigio, Raparino, Zinnan. Uov. 74. t. 12. f. 65. 2. 



Nuthatch, Gen. Si/n.ii. 648. Id. Sup. 117. Br. Zool. i. No. 89. pi. 38. Id.fol. 81. 



tab. H. Id. 1812. 1. p. 336. pi. 42. Will. Engl. 142. pi. 23. Plot Oxf. 175. 



Collinses Birds, pi. 3. f. 8. male. pi. 5. f. 9. female. Donov. iii. pi. 81. Jib. ii. 



pi. 28. Ph. Trans, xxviii. 170. Beivick, i. pi. p. 121. Skate's Zool. viii. 108. pi. 13. 



Lewin, ii. t. 53. Arct. Zool. ii. No. 170. Or«. D?"cf. 



SIZE of a Sparrow ; length five inches and three quarters ; 

 weight seven drachms. Bill strong, strait, and a trifle compressed, 

 three quarters of an inch long, colour dusky, beneath at the base 

 nearly white ; irides hazel ; crown of the head, back, and wing 

 coverts bluish grey ; from the mouth a black streak passes over the 

 eye ; cheeks and chin white ; breast and belly pale orange buff- 

 colour ; sides and thighs ferruginous chestnut ; quills dusky ; wings 

 beneath marked with two spots, one white at the root of the exterior 

 quills, the other black at the joint of the bastard wing; the tail 

 consists of twelve feathers, the two middle ones grey, the two exterior 

 tipped with grey ; then succeeds a transverse white spot ; beneath 

 that the rest is black ; legs pale yellow. 



The female is smaller, less bright in colour, and weighs one 

 drachm less. 



This species is to be found in the woods of this kingdom throughout 

 the year, but chiefly in the more southern parts, being less frequent 

 in the northern, or western : it makes its nest in the hollows of trees, 

 more frequently in those deserted by Woodpeckers; in which case, 

 when the entrance is larger than necessary, the bird nicely stops up 

 part of it with clay, leaving only a small hole to pass in and out; 

 whereby the former inhabitant is precluded from entering again its 

 old habitation ; and in case the plastered entrance is destroyed, it is 

 soon replaced. The nest is composed chiefly of moss, lichens, and 

 dried leaves, especially those of the oak, and the eggs six or seven 

 in number, dirty white, blotched with rufous or sanguineous, with a 

 few spots of the same ; when the hen is sitting, if any one invades 



