NUTHATCH. 
247 
INSESS ORES. 
SC AN SO RES. 
CERTIII A DAE. 
NUTHATCH. 
SlTTA EUROPiEA. 
PLxVTE LXII. FIti. IV. 
The Nuthatch, like the woodpeckers, breeds in holes 
of trees, the entrance to which is admirably protected 
and contracted by a plaster of clay, till it is just suffi¬ 
ciently large to allow the ingress of the bird. This en¬ 
trance it defends against its enemies with the greatest 
courage; making a hissing noise, like the blue titmouse, 
when attacked. The nest, when there is anything be¬ 
tween the eggs and the bare wood, consists of a few dry 
leaves, or bits of bark. 
The Rev. A. C. Smith, of Yatesbury rectory, has sent 
me the following interesting description of the nest of a 
Nuthatch now in his possession, which was taken from 
the hole in a wall where a brick had been omitted, which 
hole the same birds had inhabited for many years. He 
says : “ The birds plastered up with a thick wall of clay 
and small gravel stones this large aperture, only leaving 
one small orifice, by which they entered their house. 
One summer when the young birds were departed, I cut 
away with a knife this clay wall, and fitted it into a box, 
and so carried off the whole nest, which I now have. 
The nest itself was a deep bed of pieces of the inner 
bark of the Scotch fir-tree. I should think the quantity 
accumulated there must have been more than would fill 
