C7. ee he : 
7 THE NATURAL HISTORY 
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GENUS 20. — g y TT 2: 
Te: NUTHATORY 
The beak is awl-fhaped, fimooth, ftrait, the: upper mandi 
ble rather longer and black, and, cpmprsiied at the points 
the lower mandibl e white, . 
The tongue fhort, horny at the end, and jagged. 
The noftrils covered with briftles. 
The feathers of the tail are fiff. 
“The feet formed for walking or Hopping, that i ~ three toes 
‘before and one: behind. | 
HE Nuthatch runs up and down the bodies 
of trees, and feeds upon infeés and nut 
kernels. = 
He is a very wife and careful bird, for he faves 
nuts for the winter ; and when he has occafion, for 
them, he brings one at a time from his hoard, and 
places it in the chink of a tree, and ftands neal 
— it with his head downwards ; then he ftrikes, the 
nut with his bill, with all his ffrength, and breaks 
_ it, and catches up the kernel, before it can fall to 
“the ground, 
The female makes her nett io hollow trees, 
and if the ible be 100 large, the ftops up part. of 
‘it with clay. She is very fond of her young ones, 
and wall fuiter her feathers:to be pulled off, rather 
than 
