bark, so as to obtain a rest whereon to support the

weight of the

bird, or, at all

events, to assist

b

in doing so. A still greater de

velopment of this power is observed in the tail-feathers of the genus Oxyurus (b), where the broad inner web terminates abruptly, leaving the point of the shaft naked. Other varieties of form in the tail-feathers of different species of this group of birds will be detected by the careful observer, each being adapted to the peculiar surface to which it is to be applied. Besides the little Tree-Creeper mentioned above, the Nuthatch and the Wren are included by Mr. Swainson in this family, amongst numerous other exotic species.

In some of their characters and habits, the Nuthatches (Sittina) bear considerable resemblance to the Woodpeckers, from which they differ in being able to ascend or descend the trunks of trees with equal readiness. The strength of their feet, the toes being remarkably large for the size of the bird, enables them to cling to small twigs in a manner similar to the Titmice.

The European Nuthatch (Sitta Europea) is a wellknown native bird, and will serve as an example of this sub-family. It is the only species found in Europe, or any of the immediately adjacent parts of the world. Some few others are found in America and the eastern Asiatic islands; but the species are not numerous.

As a British bird, the Nuthatch is confined to the south of England, and does not seem to have been found so far west as Cornwall. It resorts chiefly to

wooded and enclosed situations, and is in constant activity, searching for insects. It will creep round a branch with great facility, picking off the moss occasionally, or hammering against the bark. The tail of the Nuthatch is not of that firm texture which gives to the Woodpecker such advantage in ascending the tree, but is flexible and short; neither does the bird appear to require any such assistance, the strength of its claws being sufficient to support the weight of the body, and the position which it assumes, when hammering with its bill, being usually with the head downwards. It feeds upon the insects and their larvæ that infest the bark of trees, and also upon nuts, and other hard seeds. Its method of arriving at the kernel of hazel-nuts or filberts is curious; having detached the nut from its husk, and afterwards fixed it firmly in a crevice of the bark of some tree, it places itself above it, with its head downwards, and in this position splits the nut by reiterated strokes of its bill. In the autumn, many of these broken nutshells may be seen in the open bark of old trees, in places where these birds abound, as they return repeatedly to the same spot for this purpose. It is not improbable that the nuts selected for this operation are those which contain a grub, and which have a perforation in the shell, and are therefore more readily fractured. The filbert grub must be a dainty morsel for an insectivorous bird.

The deserted habitation of a Woodpecker is occupied by the Nuthatch as a place of nidification; and in order to accommodate the size of the entrance to its own dimensions, the hole is contracted by a plaster of clay. According to M. Montbeillard, when it cannot

find a hole in a tree suitable to its purposes, it hews out an excavation with its bill, if it can meet with a spot that is wormeaten. The nest is composed generally of dead oak-leaves heaped together without much order.

The manners of the Carolina Nuthatch (Sitta melanocephala) are thus described by Wilson. The Whitebreasted Nuthatch is common almost everywhere in the woods of North America, and may be known at a distance by the notes quank, quank, frequently repeated, as he moves upward and downward in spiral circles around the body and larger branches of the trees, probing behind the thin scaly bark of the white oak, and shelling off considerable pieces of it in his search after spiders, ants, insects, and their larvæ. He rests and roosts with his head downwards, and appears to possess a degree of curiosity not common in many birds, frequently descending very silently within a few feet of the root of a tree where you happen to stand, stooping, head downwards, stretching out his neck in a horizontal position, as if to reconnoitre your appearance; and after several minutes' silent observation, wheeling round, he again mounts with fresh activity, piping his unisons as before. Strongly attached to his native forests, he seldom forsakes them; and amidst the rigours of the severest winter weather his note is still heard in the bleak leafless woods, and among the howling branches.

Of the true Creepers we have an example in this country in the common Creeper (Certhia familiaris), the only species of its genus found in Europe. It is distinguished by a moderately long, slender, compressed, curved, sharp-pointed bill; narrow and tapering tongue, which is stiff and rather horny at the tip. Wings round

and hollow, as in the Woodpeckers; the fourth and fifth feathers longest. Tail also, as in that genus, wedgeshaped, and composed of twelve rather stiff sharppointed feathers. The plumage on the upper parts is soft and very loose in its texture, the filaments of the feathers not adhering; on the under surface white, silky and glistering. Legs short and slender; the middle toe longest; the inner much shorter than the outer; hinder toe longer than the tarsus, the claw very long, and but slightly curved. All the claws very slender, the front ones very much curved and extremely sharppointed. It is common in Europe and North America.

This curious little bird is everywhere abundantly distributed over the British Islands, frequenting gardens, parks, and all places where trees are to be found. A retired inhabitant of the woods and groves, as a pleasing writer describes it, and not in any way conspicuous for voice and plumage, it passes days with us, scarcely attracting any notice or attention. Its small size and the manner in which it procures its food both tend to secrete it from sight. In these pursuits its actions are more like those of a mouse than of a bird, darting like a great moth from tree to tree, uttering a faint trilling sound as it fixes upon their boles, running round them in a spiral direction, when with repeated wriggles having gained the summit, it darts to the base of another and commences again.

The retiring and almost noiseless habits of this bird cause it to be but little noticed by those who are unacquainted with its faint call of tsint, tsint. It is by no means a scarce bird, and may be seen in almost every clump of tall trees, as it flits from one tree to another,

or creeps quietly along the outline of the trunk, with a rapid uniform motion, its tail bent inwards towards the tree, now and then peeping round to take a glimpse of the spectator. It will often flutter down. after it has ascended a few feet, and again alight near the ground, ascending the same tree several times in different directions. It creeps with wonderful ease along or across the lower side of a horizontal bough, inserting its slender bill into the cracks and crevices of the bark, and there finding abundance of minute insects and larvæ, chiefly of the coleopterous order, which in such situations often lurk in perfect security from the attacks of most other insectivorous birds. Sometimes the little Creeper may be descried searching the topmost branches of a tall tree, anon examining the smaller twigs and sprays, and again the same indefatigable little creature may be seen creeping about upon a lichen-covered paling, pulling out minute spiders from their lurking-holes, and drawing forth the tiny inhabitants of every chink and cranny.

The Tree Creeper seems to hold on upon the vertical bole of a tree much in the manner of a cat, by means of its front claws, and can only descend a steep declivity in the same way as that animal does, backwards; the form of its claws preventing its taking a very firm hold with the head downwards; and, accordingly, though very commonly observed to ascend the same tree many times successively in different directions, it never creeps down again like the Nuthatch, but always flutters down again and again as soon as it has got to a certain height, and re-alights, as it did the first time, near the ground.*

* British Cyclopædia.