NUTHATCHES 



The red-breasted nuthatch is a smaller 

 bird than the slender-billed and may be dis- 

 tinguished by its reddish brown sides and 

 breast and white line over the eye. Its nasal 

 yanJi, yank, is also uttered more rapidly and 

 in a higher key. It wanders from tree to tree 

 in the restless manner of its kind, running up 

 a tree spirally and going out on the big 

 limbs, sometimes to the very tips, often 

 hanging head downwards like a chicka- 

 dee, while it examines the clusters of fir 

 needles for food. 



Pygmy nuthatch, Sitta pygmoea pyg- 

 ^'^^ moea. 4.20 



Distribution : Mountains of western North 

 America and Mexico, north to British Colum- 

 bia, and from the Pacific Coast east to 

 Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New 

 Mexico. The white-naped nuthatch, a near 

 relative, is found in southern California in 

 San Diego County, south into Lower Cali- 

 fornia. 



The pygmy nuthatch lives in the moun- 

 tains and only rarely comes down into the 

 valleys. Only those who go to its haunts will 

 make its acquaintance. Its small size and 

 the white patch on the back of its neck will 

 serve to identify it. 



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