154 DALMATIAN NUTHATCH. 



from the numerous structures of a species of ant which 

 are thickly stuck over the face of the rock, and at a 

 distance resemble in size and appearance the nest of 

 Sitta Syriaca itself. But the greatest curiosity of all 

 was to be seen under a large flat slab, which projected 

 enough to afford convenient shelter during a shower of 

 rain. This was a nest of Hirundo rufula, which had 

 been broken at one end, and consequently abandoned 

 by the bird. Meanwhile a Nuthatch had come and 

 repaired the damage, possibly with the intention of 

 appropriating the nest. The difference in the work- 

 manship, and to a certain extent in the material, was 

 very apparent when taken in juxtaposition. In shape 

 the nest of Hirundo rufula is so different from that of 

 any other European bird, that this proceeding on the 

 part of the Nuthatch was still more extraordinary." 



I copy the following from Count Muhle's "Beitraege 

 Zur Ornithologie Griechenlands," p. 50: — "This is a 

 bird which by many of our naturalists is only considered 

 to be an acclimatized variety of the common S. Europcea; 

 but it is certainly a distinct species. It lives only on 

 the rocks, never in woods, and remains willingly about 

 old Venetian fortresses, where it constantly glides in 

 and out of the shot-holes. When it settles upon a rock, 

 it likes to suspend itself with its head downwards, and 

 hops off by fits and starts. It seeks its food on trees 

 that are frequented by Coleoptera, such as the bread 

 fruit, or Cactus opuntia. It builds its nest on the rugged 

 rock walls under the natural roof of an overhanging 

 rock, usually on the east or south side — never on the 

 west. It is very large outside, and skilfully built with 

 clay, eleven inches long from the entrance. It is lined 

 with the hair of bullocks, dogs, goats, or jackals. It 

 is always on the outside woven together with the seeds 



