62 LAND-BIRDS. 



usual set, but at what time they are laid in Massachusetts I 

 am uncertain.* 



c. The White - bellied Nuthatches are abundant in but a 

 few parts of New England. In eastern Massachusetts they 

 are less rare in spring and autumn than in the other seasons ; 

 but only a few breed or pass the winter here. As it seems 

 advisable to quote from Wilson a full description of some 

 bird's habits to show the usual style of that author, I shall 

 here give his remarks about these birds. After describing 

 their appearance, their non-identity with the European Nut- 

 hatch, and their nest and eggs, he writes as follows : — 



" The male is extremely attentive to the female while sitting, 

 supplying her regularly with sustenance, stopping frequently 

 at the mouth of the hole, calling and offering her what he has 

 brought, in the most endearing manner. Sometimes he seems 

 to stop merely to inquire how she is, and to lighten the tedious 

 moments with his soothing chatter. He seldom rambles far 

 from the spot, and when danger appears, regardless of his own 

 safety, he flies instantly to alarm her. When both are feed- 

 ing on the trunk of the same tree, or of adjoining ones, he is 

 perpetually calling on her ; and from the momentary pause 

 he makes it is plain that he feels pleased to hear her Teply. 



" The White-breasted Nuthatch is common almost every- 

 where in the woods of North America; and may be known at 

 a distance by the notes quanh^ quank^ frequently repeated, as 

 he moves upward and down, in spiral circles, around the body 

 and larger branches of the tree, probing behind the thin scaly 

 bark of the white oak, and shelling off considerable pieces of 

 it in his search after spiders, ants, insects, and their larvae. He 

 rests and roosts with his head downwards ; and appears to 

 possess a degree of curiosity not common in many birds ; fre- 

 quently descending, very silently, within a few feet of the root 

 of the tree where you happen to stand, stopping, head down- 

 ward, stretching out his neck in a horizontal position, as if to 

 reconnoitre your appearance, and after several minutes of si- 



* In eastern Massachusetts this Nut- ally as many as nine, eg-g^, the sets are 

 hatch begins laying about April 20th. not always completed until nearly or 

 As it usually lays seven, and occasion- quite May Ist. — W. B. 



