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 g-lossy black, side of head with white super- 

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

 wings plain ; tail with white patches on outer feathers. 

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

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

 Length: 4.12-4.75, wing 2.(i0-2.85, 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 the 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 usuallv more or less distinctly edged with pale buffy. Length : 

 :5.80-4..5r), 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 pygmcfa 

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

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



