NUTHATCHES. 65 



the female lays about June first, and occasionally again in 

 July. 



c. The Red-bellied Nuthatches habitually spend the sum- 

 mer in the woods and forests of northern New England and 

 other rather cold countries, though a few may occasionally 

 breed in this State, particularly in the western and well- 

 wooded parts. They appear in Massachusetts about the first 

 of October, and I have invariably found them quite common 

 during that month in the neighborhood of Boston. Many 

 retire to the South in November ; and those who pass the win- 

 ter here may easily escape observation, for they are generally 

 silent, often frequent the large tracts of woods which are but 

 little penetrated by man in midwinter, and not unfrequently 

 almost lose their individuality, so to speak, by joining troops 

 of Chickadees. They are by no means rare in April or the 

 early part of May, when many pass through in their annual 

 spring migrations. As I have intimated, they are so social 

 as to unite somewhat with other birds, but they are not often 

 gregarious in Massachusetts, and usually are seen singly or in 

 pairs, and not in flocks, as they are further north. They are 

 more fond of pines than other trees, feeding upon their seeds, 

 as well as on the insects about them. Here the Nuthatches 

 are to be found, busied in almost every conceivable attitude, 

 sometimes moving up and down the trunk, as often with the 

 head pointing downward as upward, and at other times scram- 

 bling about the branches or the cones. They do not confine 

 themselves, however, to trees, for they sometimes climb about 

 fences or old buildings, and occasionally descend to the 

 ground, where they pick up fallen seeds. In comparing this 

 species with the White-breasted, Wilson says that " its voice 

 is sharper, and its motions much quicker than those of the 

 other, being so rapid, restless, and small as to make it a diffi- 

 cult point to shoot one of them. When the two species are in 

 the woods together, they are easily distinguished by their 

 voices, the note of the least being nearly an octave sharper 

 than that of its companion, and repeated more hurriedly." 



d. The only note of the Red-bellied Nuthatch is an unmu- 

 sical sound, like the word " ank," which, says Mr. Maynard, 



