THE HAZEL. 



141 



tree. It has a strong and powerful beak, but 

 having no means of holding its food, hke the 

 squirrel, while at work on the shell, it gathers the 

 nut by the stem, and carries it away in its 

 mouth to some rough barked tree, generally an 

 Oak, strips off the husk, and fixes the nut in 



THE NUTHATCH. 



an angular crack in the bark, always selecting, as 

 far as I have observed, a fissure so shaped that 

 every blow which it deals with its beak wedges 

 the nut more firmly ; it thus cracks the shell and 

 regales itself on its contents. In the months of 

 July and August, when the woods are quieter 



