LAND BIRDS. 687 



a crevice or rotten place which had been cleaned out by the birds, making 

 a capital nesting place. The nest was composed of fine strips of inner 

 bark of basswood, forming the base, and on top of the bark a large mass of 

 rabbits' fur to the thickness of nearly an inch. The nest measured about 

 eight inches in diameter and was saucer-shaped, the greatest depth of 

 the cavity not being over an inch." Other nests are similar, and almost 

 without exception they are placed in the natural cavities of trees, rarely 

 if ever in a deserted woodpecker's hole, and probably never in holes entirely 

 excavated by the birds themselves. Most often the cavities are in living 

 trees and in many cases the entrance is through an old knot-hole just large 

 enough to give the bird admission. 



The eggs vary in number from five to eight, or occasionally to nine or 

 possibly ten. They are white or creamy white, speckled with reddish 

 brown, and average .72 by .55 inches. 



The food of this bird is said to consist chiefly of insects together with 

 their eggs or larvae, these being dragged from crevices in the bark, and it 

 lias also been noticed that the birds feed upon beech-nuts, pine seeds, 

 acorns and similar food. A careful study of the food of this species was 

 made under the author's direction, in 1898, by Mr. E. Dwight Sanderson, 

 who studied the food habits both of Nuthatches and Chickadees and pre- 

 sented the results as a thesis for graduation at' the Michigan Agricultural 

 College. He examined the stomachs of twenty-three White-breasted Nut- 

 hatches taken in winter and eleven in early spring, all from Ingham county, 

 Michigan, and his conclusions as to the food are as follows: "During the 

 winter the larger proportion of the food was composed of seeds, which grad- 

 ually decreased as insect life became more abundant. Some of the seeds 

 eaten were Indian corn, bitter-weed and sunflower. Most of the seeds were 

 so badly broken as to be undeterminable. The insect food formed about 26 

 percent of the whole during the winter, but almost 80 percent of the food in 

 spring, the remainder being vegetable matter except for 6 or 7 per cent of 

 sand or gravel. * * * The insect food is taken more or less indiscrim- 

 inately and the beneficial forms eaten fully equal those which are more 

 or less injurious, while none of the Nuthatches were found feeding upon any 

 insect pest. In view of these facts I should desire to experiment somewhat 

 with them in an infested orchard before declaring them to be merely 

 neutral, yet from all the data secured there would seem to be little doubt 

 that the Nuthatch, both from its food and habits, is either absolutely 

 neutral or of comparatively small economic importance" (Auk, XV, 

 1898, 145-150). 



Nuthatches are by no means musical, and nothing which can properly 

 be called a song is ever heard from this species. The usual note is a loud, 

 nasal "hank," commonly repeated three or four times in quick succession. 

 In early spring, however, it has a clear rolling call somewhat resembling 

 the "look-look-look" of the Flicker. 



TKCHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Adult male: Entire upper surface of head, from bill to nape, glossy black, this color 

 extending backward over the forepart of the back; most of the remaining upper parts 

 clear bhiish-gray; tlie inner wing-feathers and greater coverts boUUy marked witii black; 

 the two middle tail-feathers gray like the back, the others black with large white blotches, 

 so tliat tlic tail appears to be nearly half white; under parts uniformly white or grayish 

 white, with more or less bright chestnut on the hinder belly and under tail-coverts, sides 

 of head and neck white, this color extending more or less above the eye. The female is 

 very similar except that the glossy black of the head is replaced by dark gray. There 

 are no marked seasonal changes. 



Length .5.20 to G.15 inches; wing 3.50 to 3.7r); tail 2 (o 2.2."). 



