Page:The Zoologist, 1st series, vol 4 (1846).djvu/332

1498 will be seen that the above description differs much from that of Bewick, although it resembles those of Yarrell, Selby, and Hewitson. I have also seen another nest, which was very like the one here described, and was similarly situated on a spruce fir ; it was taken this summer in the neighbourhood. On the 24th of June I had a young one, which could hardly fly, and was knocked down with a stick, brought to me, and as no author that I can find has described the nestling plumage, I venture to do so here: — Beak pale brown ; upper mandible rather the darkest; head and nape dirty white, each feather having a dark centre ; back and tail-coverts dark brown, each fea- ther margined with sienna ; neck, breast, and flanks dirty white, each feather tipped with dark brown, a tinge of sienna pervading the former ; belly, thighs, and under tail- coverts silvery white, the latter with a dark stripe on each feather ; first ten of the eighteen quill-feathers (wing) grayish black, the remainder the same, but with a broadish buff outer edge ; tail-quills the same as these last ; first and second wing-co- verts dark brown with buff tips, forming two conspicuous bars across the wing ; inside of the bastard wing tinged with sienna ; tarsus and toes pale brown ; claws black. Last summer a pair of these birds haunted this house, and the female used often to come and sit upon a cage, which stood at the open window, containing a pair of these pretty little linnets, who seemed always much pleased with their visitor. Several other birds of this species were often seen about in the neighbourhood at Thetford, Barham, Calford, &c. Elden is, I believe, nearly in the same latitude as Rugby, which has been considered the most southern limit of this bird's habitat in summer. — Alfred Newton; Elden, June 29th, 1846.

Occurrence of the White-winged Crossbill near Thetford.— Four or five of these birds were observed on some fir-trees near Thetford, in Norfolk, on the 10th of May last ; one of which was shot, and came into the possession of Mr. Robert Reynolds, bird-fancier, of Thetford. About a week before this, Mr. Reynolds purchased a speci- men of a bird-stuffer at Bury St. Edmund's, which had but just been set up, and was obtained in that neighbourhood. — C.B. Hunter; Downham, Norfolk, August 23rd, 1846.

Remarks on the Nuthatch. — A discussion respecting the food and habits of the nut- hatch has lately been carried on through the medium of that useful journal, called the 'Gardener's Chronicle,' in rather too angry a tone, and as I do not wish to be involved in a controversy upon the subject, I prefer recording in the pages of the ' Zoologist' the few facts relating to that bird, which I have to communicate. That it feeds upon nuts there cannot, I should imagine, remain in the mind of any accurate observer of Nature even the shadow of doubt, but if any further confirmation of the fact be wanted, I beg to state, that I have often been an eye-witness of its successful persever- ance in cracking the shell by repeated strokes of the beak, and of its subsequent indul- gence in devouring the well-earned prize of the kernel. The first of these operations it performs in a manner very different from the oxeye tit (Parus major), which I have often detected in similar occupations, for the nuthatch not only pecks it with the beak as the latter bird does, but brings the whole of its body into action by expanding its wings at every stroke. Doubtless, the beak appears almost too tender to be so em- ployed, but we know that drops of water by falling on the same place will wear a hole in the hardest stone ; thus, repeated blows of this apparently feeble instrument upon the same part of the nut-shell will speedily produce the desired effect. Nuts, however, are not the only article of food to which the nuthatch has recourse. It devours insects in abundance, and I have lately had a proof of its partiality to fruit also. On the 15th