500 Birds of Colorado 



old Woodpecker's hole is sometimes taken up ; Gale 

 believed that the same hole is often utilized year after 

 year. The nest proper is placed at the bottom of the 

 excavation, which is about six or eight inches deep. 

 It is made up of a felted mass of fur and feathers. The 

 eggs, usually five in number, are white, spotted chiefly 

 at the larger end with brown. This bird nests early ; 

 Gale gives May 10th to 30th for freshly-laid eggs, while 

 the nest described by Richards (08) already seemed to 

 contain young birds as early as May 15th, but this, of 

 course, was at an exceptionally low elevation. 



Red-breasted Nuthatch. Sitta canadensis. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 728 — Colorado Records — Henshaw 75, p. 174 ; 

 Drew 85, p. 15 ; Lowe 94, p. 270 ; Cooke 97, pp. 122, 222 ; Henderson 

 03, p. 108 ; 09, p. 241. 



Description. — Male — Whole of the crown and a broad stripe from 

 the lores through the eye to the side of the neck black, with a faint 

 gloss ; a white superciliary line extending above the lores ; rest of the 

 upper-surface, including the two middle tail-feathers, blueish-grey ; 

 the wing quilLs ashy ; the outer tail-feathers black, tipped with grey, 

 the three outermost with a subterminal band of white ; throat and sides 

 of the neck below the black band white, rest of the vmder-parts bufiy, 

 varying somewhat in intensity ; iris brown, bill black, paler at the base 

 of the lower mandible, legs horny. Length 4-10 ; wing 2-70 ; tail 1-50 ; 

 culmen -52 ; tarsus -60. 



The female has the black of the head less glossy and more slaty ; 

 yoimg birds are very similar to the adults. 



Distribution. — From southern Alaska and Labrador, south to the 

 northern tier of states and further south along the Rockies and 

 Alleghanies to California, Colorado and N. Carolina ; fvirther south 

 to the Gulf states, Arizona and New Mexico in winter. 



In Colorado the Red-breasted Nuthatch is by no means common, 

 as can be seen by the scanty notices. It is a resident throughout the 

 year in the mountains, breeding from 8,000 to 10,000 feet so far as 

 records show ; in the plains it has been taken by Aiken at Resolis, in 

 Elbert co.. May 26th, and at Limon, Lincoln co., May 19th, when it was 

 probably migrating north. 



The other records are as follows : Boulder co., breeding (Gale), 

 foothills in El Paso co., about 7,000 feet, November (Colo. Coll. Mus.), 



