274 
■MulJiafches. 
parently fully fledged, but all dead. I cannot account for 
this! Well ail this by the way: after I had taken the Nuthatch's 
eggs (8) on May 7th (the Cole Tit laid 11), a Nuthatch 
commenced to build in another of my empty blocks attached 
to a big cedar tree, just opposite my study window, about 
four days later ; I take it to have been the same 
pair. The flrst nest took quite a foi'tniglit to make ; 
indeed I think it must have been well over a month from 
the commencement till incubation began. Well, to continue 
my story proper, the second nest apparently only took about 
a week, and lK)th were composed of thin bark and leaves, 
mud being used round the hole and inside the top of the block 
under the lid. When I looked at the nest on June 9th, before 
leaving for a fortnight's absence from home, she was sitting. 
I returned home on June 27th, and looked at the nest on the 
29th; it contained five young birds, fully fledged, and the 
the old birds might both be seen feeding constantly, th^ 
young ones putting their heads to the entrance to receive 
the insect; I perceived that they constantly brought .something 
of a creamy colour, which, it struck me, must be a medium - 
sized moth of some description. On the afternoon' of July 
1st I got my glasses and hid in some bushes within four or 
five yardj of the nest; I failed, however, to identify any of 
the things brought, partly for this reason, that 1 had not 
been there more than half an hour before one young bird 
left the nest and sat on top of the box; it flapped its wings 
once 01' twice and then started to climb, took a circular flight 
over the lawn back to the tree and then across to a laburnum; 
So much for No. 1. No. 2 flew straight out of the block to 
the laburnum (across a path six yards distant) . No. 3 was on 
the outside of the block, Avhen a boy walked past and it flew into 
the bushe.i close by me. Nos. 4 and 5 ran up the tree. The 
following remarks apply to all generally; the bird about 
to leave the block kept poking its head out and cailing for 
ten minutes or a quarter of an hour previously, holding on 
to the inner edge of the hole meanwhile; once the body 
came out there was no going back, it was out and appeared 
to rejoice at the freedom, though naturally a bit sliaky holding 
on, indeed they seemed stronger on the wmg than the leg. 
While looking out they pecked at insects which flew past oi; 
