454 NUTHATCHES AND TITS 



sociable little creatures, and their flocks often join the ranks of other 

 small foresters. If you catch sight of a nuthatch on the side of a 

 tree trunk and he turns his head to look at you, you are struck by 

 his white neck patch. It can be seen from a distance, and becomes 

 a striking directive mark in the dark forest, being conspicuous when 

 the outlines of the bird's body are almost indistinguishable. In the 

 Sierra Nevada, when passing the birds on horseback, I have lost 

 sight of one I was watching till it turned its head, and then a spot 

 of white stood out against the dark bole of a tree, placing it in- 

 stantly. 



Like the brown creepers the blue-gray nuthatches are tree-trunk 

 birds, but they do not hunt as systematically as the creepers, and are 

 as likely to be found hanging head down as up, while they walk 

 along under a branch as calmly as flies on a ceiling, though they 

 have no stiff pointed tails to aid them. 



728. Sitta canadensis Linn. RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 



Adult male. Top of head glossy black, side of head with white super- 

 ciliary and black eye stripe; under parts reddish brown; back bluish gray; 

 wing's plain ;' tail with white patches on outer feathers. 

 Adult female : black of head replaced by bluish gray ; under 

 parts lighter reddish brown. Young : similar, but duller. 

 Length : 4.12-4.75, wing- 2.60-2.85, bill about .60. 

 Fig. 581. Distribution. Breeds in Canadian zone of North. Amer- 



ica ; in the United States in the higher mountain ranges ; 

 wintering south to the southern border of tbe United States. 



Nest. Described by Henshaw, in stub a few feet from the ground, 

 lined with fine shreds of pine bark. Eggs: 4 to 8, grayish white, thinly 

 spotted with red at larger end. 



The red-breasted nuthatch is often found with the slender-billed 

 in the west. 



730. Sitta pygmsea Vig. PYGMY NUTHATCH. 



Adults. - Top of head grayish brown or olive gray, nape usually white ; 

 rest of upper parts bluish gray ; tail with basal half of middle feathers 

 white ; eye stripe black ; chin white ; rest of under parts dull buffy. Young : 

 wing coverts usually more or less distinctly edged with pale buffy. Length : 

 3.80-4.55, wing about 2.60, bill .60-. 65. 



Distribution. - - Breeds in Transition and Canadian zones from British 

 Columbia south to Mt. Orizaba, Mexico ; and from the Rocky Mts. to the 

 Pacific. 



Nest. In crevice of bark or holes in trees 20 or more feet from the 

 ground, lined with feathers, down, wool, and hair. Eggs : 6 to 9, white, 

 covered with red spots, most thickly about the larger end. 



The nuthatches are all interesting, but there is a peculiar charm 

 about the little pygmy. In the Sierra Nevada aculeata and pygm&a 

 are sometimes seen together in the pines about camp. When you 

 see the slender-billed coming down the tree trunk over your head 



