A little larger than its European
cousin, its markings are quite similar. In Syria it is common as far
north as the southern shores of the Black Sea. Although somewhat shy,
it is described as having "sprightly manners and a clear, ringing
trill." Odd indeed are some of nature's evolutions, I had almost said
caprices, for the rock nuthatch is just as much at home and apparently
just as happy on its bleak precipices as is our merry whitebreast in
his umbrageous home in the oak or maple forest.

But what kind of nests do the rock nuthatches construct on their
limestone walls? That is one of the most interesting features of the
life of these birds. One writer[1] who has observed them in their
native haunts describes the rock nuthatch as "an expert clay mixer and
molder." The bird does not chisel out a nursery in the rock--no,
indeed; his method of constructing his nest is as follows: Having found
a little hollow or indentation on the rocky wall, he will erect a cap
or dome of mortar over it, plastering the structure so firmly against
the surface that no rain or storm or predaceous creeping thing can
demolish it until long after it has been abandoned by the little
architect. The circular base of the nest is ten or twelve inches in
diameter. The dome is not entirely closed up, but a small orifice is
left in the center, upon the edges of which a narrow neck or funnel,
also made of mortar, is raised, the hole just large enough to admit the
body of the bird. The funnel is about three inches long.

The building material employed is fine clay softened and glutinated
with the bird's saliva and mixed with plant fibers, for the little
mason does not believe in making bricks without straw. So well packed
is the inch-thick wall that a stiff knife blade must be used to cut
through it. While the natural color of the adobe cottage is ash-gray,
and therefore harmonizes with the general hue of its surroundings, and
also with the mezzotints of the builder, yet he sometimes decorates it
with the gaily colored wings of moths caught in the chase and attached
to the plaster while it is fresh. The rock nuthatch is as expert a
mixer of mortar as the well-known cliff swallows of our own country,
and his adobe dwellings bear a close resemblance to theirs.

It is interesting to note that the European nuthatch, while nesting
regularly in tree cavities, sometimes also chooses the crannies of
rocks, when he goes a little more extensively