THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH 



Nuthatch Family — Sittidce 



Length: About 6 inches. 



General Appearance: A short, thickset bird, blue-gray, black, 

 and white. Bill long; tail short and square. 



Male: Mostly bluish-gray above; white underneath, shading to 

 reddish-brown at sides and under tail; top of head 

 and nape a shining blue-black; sides of head 

 and throat white; wings gray shading to brown, 

 edged and tipped with light gray or white; shoulders 

 gray and black; bill large and strong, (% of an 

 inch in length) ; tail short and square-cut; middle 

 feathers bluish-gray; outer ones black, with large 

 white patches near tips; legs short; feet large and 

 strong; hind toe unusually long, with a long, sharp 

 nail. 



Female: Head a dull grayish-black; otherwise like male. 



Notes: A nasal crank-crank, which, though not melodious, is 

 not unpleasant to hear. Dr. Chapman says: "There 

 is such a lack of sentiment in the Nuthatch's char- 

 acter, he seems so matter-of-fact in all his ways, that 

 it is difficult to imagine him indulging in anything 

 like song. But even he cannot withstand the con- 

 quering influences of spring, and at that season he 

 raises his voice in a peculiar monotone — a tenor 

 hah-hah-hah-hah-hah — sounding strangely like mirth- 

 less laughter." ^ 



Flight: Undulating. 



Habitat: Trunks of trees, which he ascends and descends. 



^ From "BirHs of Eastern North America," by Frank M. Chapman. 



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