8i8 Rural School Leaflet 



THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH* 



Anna Botsford Comstock 



" Tlie busy nuthatch climbs his tree, 

 Around the great bole spirally, 

 Peeping into wrinkles gray, 

 Under ruffled lichens gay, 

 Lazily piping one sharp note 

 From his silver mailed throat." 



MAURICE THOMPSON 



" With more artless inquisitiveness than fear, this lively little acrobat stops his hammering 

 or hatching at your approach, and stretching himself out from the tree until it would seem 

 he must fall off, he peers down at you, head downward, straight into your upturned opera- 

 glass. If there is too much snoiu on the upper side of a branch watch how he runs along 

 underneath it like a fly, busily tapping the bark, or adroitly breaking the decayed bits with 

 his bill, as he stretches for the spider's eggs, larvcB, etc., hidden there; yet somehow, between 

 mouthfuls, managing to call out his cheery 'quank! quank! hank! hank!' " 



NELTJE BLANCHAN 



A voice outside is calling at me; I cannot describe it accurately, but it 

 is making delightful woodsy remarks that make me long to throw aside 

 the pen and go out and wander where the snow is making still softer the 

 carpet of dead leaves on the forest floor. It is not a musical note but 

 it is most enticing and translates into sound the picture of bare-branched 

 trees and the feeling of enchantment that permeates the forest in winter. 

 Neltje Blanchan says the voice reiterates, " hank, hank," others say it is 

 "nay, nay" — but no nasal sound of the hum^an voice and no spelling of 

 the English language adequately represents this call of the white-breasted 

 nuthatch. 



On the tree in front of the window I can see the owner of this sylvan 

 voice. It is a little bird blue-gray above, with black head, black and white 

 V-trimmings on the back of its suit, and soft, white breast. It is flitting 

 blithely from tree to tree enjoying the snowstorm and coming often to the 

 suet feast that I have spread for him and his little feathered kin. 



We have had exciting times at the suet banquet this morning. The 

 building in which my office is, stands on a high knoll near the forest- 

 covered brink of a deep gorge. Thus my window is opposite the tops of 

 the trees. One of our nature-study staff, a brave and gallant knight, 

 who loves birds and knows that I love to watch them, climbed two of 

 these trees at imminent risk of breaking his neck in order to place this 

 suet just opposite my window. The whole chickadee family, four 

 nuthatches, and Sir Downy Woodpecker and Madam Hairy Woodpecker 

 had been reveling in the feast all the morning when suddenly, one after 

 another, three crows appeared on the scene. My heart sank as I saw 

 them eying the suet with interest. Nearer and nearer they hopped from 



♦See frontispiece. 



