. Useful birds and their protection. Containing brief descriptions of the more common and useful species of Massachusetts, with accounts of their food habits, and a chapter on the means of attracting and protecting birds . the law ofgravitation. Its readiness in descending topsy-turvy is duein i)art to the fact that, as thequills of its tail are not stiffenough to afford support, itis obliged to depend upon itslegs and feet. As it has oneach foot three toes in frontand only one behind, it re-verses the position of onefoot in going head downward,throwing it out sidewise andbackward, so that the
. Useful birds and their protection. Containing brief descriptions of the more common and useful species of Massachusetts, with accounts of their food habits, and a chapter on the means of attracting and protecting birds . the law ofgravitation. Its readiness in descending topsy-turvy is duein i)art to the fact that, as thequills of its tail are not stiffenough to afford support, itis obliged to depend upon itslegs and feet. As it has oneach foot three toes in frontand only one behind, it re-verses the position of onefoot in going head downward,throwing it out sidewise andbackward, so that the threelong claws on the three fronttoes grip the bark and keepthe bird from falling other foot is thrown forward, and thus with feet farapart the little gymnast has a wide base beneath him. Inthe third volume of Reeds American Ornithology Rev. Lean-der S. Keyser describes and illustrates this manner of pro-gression. The Nuthatch not only straddles in going downthe tree, but S])reads its legs widely in going round the trunk,as will be seen by the accompanying cut, sketched from lifein 18i>5. ]\Ir. AVilliam Brewster has photographed the Red-breasted Nuthatch in similar positions, but bird artists gen-. Fig. 55. —Nuthatches. Reeds American Ornitliologj% Vol. 2, 1902, p. 171. 174 USEFUL BIRDS. erally seem to have overlooked this habit. The slightlyupturned bill of the Nuthatch, and its ha])it of hanging up-side down, give it an advantage when in the act of pryingoff scales of bark under which many noxious insects aresecreted. The food of this l)ird consists very largely of insects, al-though it is capa1)le of subsisting on seeds, for it has a strongmuscular gizzard, and consumes much sand or gravel forffrinding its food. In winter, when it is difficult to tind suffi-cient insect food, the Nuthatch feeds in part on such seeds asit can pick up. Oats and corn are then eaten wherever theycan be found. Prof. E. Dwight Sanderson, who examined thirty-fourstomachs of this
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1913
