366 
NUTHATCH. 
list. The bird of Britain is, so far as we have 
ascertained, of local distribution, occurring most 
frequently towards the south of England, and 
becoming a rare bird upon, the border. On this 
account, we are again obliged to have recourse 
to the authority of others instead of our own 
observations. Mr Selby states, that he has traced 
it to the banks of the Wear and Tyne, and we 
have no record of its occurrence farther north, 
neither is it noted in Mr Thompson’s Irjsh list. 
Out of Britain, it seems to be spread generally 
over middle Europe, but we do not know its 
exact range, or whether it crosses the Asiatic 
boundary, or is there represented by other allied 
species. In its habits, the Nuthatch is a truly 
scansorial bird, hanging and climbing about the 
trunks and branches of trees with the greatest 
ease and activity, and in all positions. At the 
same time, it is more frequently seen upon the 
ground than birds of its structure ; and here it is 
occupied in the search after seeds and nuts, on 
which it feeds as well as upon insects. Mon- 
tague mentions, that they frequent the apple 
orchards during the cider season, and pick out 
the seeds from the refuse of the pressed apples. 
A writer in Loudon's Magazine mentions them 
frequenting the ground under the yews in Ken- 
sington Gardens in company with the Titmice, 
and there feeding on the kernels of the yew 
berries ; and in Bushy Park, my brother used 
frequently to catch the Nuthatch in the common 
fall-trap baited with crumbs of bread. 
