66 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



uniformly found in their stomachs. Neither can I see what 

 necessity they could have to circumambulate the trunks of trees 

 with such indefatigable and restless diligence, while bushels of 

 nuts la}'^ scattered round their roots. As to the circumstance 

 mentioned by Dr. Plott, of the European Nuthatch ' putting its 

 bill into a crack in the bough of a tree, and making such a 

 violent sound, as if it was rending assunder,' this, if true, would 

 be sufQcient to distinguish it from the species we have just been 

 describing, which possesses no such faculty. The female differs 

 little from the male in color, chiefly in the black being less deep 

 on the head and wings." 



To the above extract I have only to add that it should be 

 remembered that Wilson wrote this account in Pennsylvania, 

 in the first years of this century, and that further knowledge 

 of this bird's habits may be obtained by studying those of the 

 Red-bellied Nuthatch, who leads a very similar life. 



(cl). The note of the White-bellied Nuthatch is monotonous, 

 unmusical, and yet striking ; it differs from that of the next 

 species in usually being pitched on a somewhat lower key. 

 There is also another note, properly distinct, which is rather 

 more subdued, though shriller. This scarcely differs in tone 

 from the ordinary cry of the Red-bellied Nuthatch. Both 

 sounds are sure to attract the attention of a person who may 

 hear them for the first time, and to remain firmly fixed in his 

 memory. 



(B) CANADENSIS. Red-bellied Nuthatch. 



(In Eastern Massachusetts, common in October, and less so 

 in winter and spring.) 



(a). 4i-5 inches long. Above, bright ashy or leaden blue. 

 Outer tail-feathers black, white-spotted. Beneath, (pale) rusty- 

 colored, except on the chin, which is white. In J* crown, and 

 broad stripe through the eye, black. Intermediate space (and 

 forehead), white. In 9 no black cap, and eye-stripe dusky. 



(6). The eggs are exactly like those of the Chickadee (§4, 

 I, A) ; and moreover the nest is in many respects like the nest 

 of that bird, though sometimes placed in a horizontal limb of 



