NATURAE HISTORY. 
05 
belly of a dull orange colour. This bird runs up and down 
the bodies of trees like the woodpecker. It feeds on insects 
and nuts, which it stores in the hollow parts of the tree. It 
is a pretty sight, says Willoughby, to see her fetch a nut 
out of her hoard, place it in a chink, and then standing 
above it, striking ,t with all its force till it breaks the shell 
and catches up the kernel. Doctor Plot says that this bird 
by puttmg its bill into the crack of a tree, can produce a 
violent sound, as if it was rending asunder, which may be 
heard at least one hundred and twenty yards. 
In some countries this bird, from the noise which it pro- 
duces in the manner above stated, is called the Loggerhead. 
I here are about six foreign species. 
The Bee-eater is well known on the continent of Europe 
though it has never been seen in England. It is about ten 
inches in length. The forehead is of a blue green, the tori of 
the head, and upper part of the back chestnut and green • the 
throat is yellow, and the under parts of the body bluegreen. 
r locks of these birds are seen in Germany. It feeds cfiieflv 
upon insects, and is good food. There are about twenty dif- 
ferent species foreign and domestic. 1 
Tit E W r yneck is a beautiful bird, though its colours are 
of the plainest kind. It is about the size of a lark Its 
p .image in general is ash coloured, beautifully marked with 
black, but the breast and belly are lighter than the upper 
parts. Its bill is three quarters of an inch long, and the 
tongue is like a worm when extended. With tliis instru 
rnent it procures its food, which consists chiefly of ants 
In England it is a bird of passage; at the end of summer it 
grows remarkably fat, and is on that account confounded 
with the Ortolan, and greatly celebrated among the connois- 
seurs in good eating. The young ones hiss in the nest like 
so many snakes, insomuch that the rustics are sometimes 
prevented plundering the nest, being apprehensive they are 
approaching the brood of that reptile. 
The Creeper is the smallest of European birds, if we 
excepi the. crested wren, and weighs only five drachms. The 
bill is hooked like a sickle. The upper part of the body is 
vai legated with brown and black, and the breast and belly 
are of a silver white. This bird is very common in Eng- 
land, though, from its extreme agility in eluding the eye of 
the spectator, it is less frequently seen than other common 
birds. It feeds upon insects-, and builds in the holes of free* 
