102 THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 



•Jftud Hen, See Clapper Eail. 



•Mud Hen^ Red-hilled. See Florida Gallinule. 



tlMurre^ Bruennich^s. — Length, sixteen and a half 

 inches; bill, one and one-fourth inches; back, sooty black; 

 breast and belly, white; wings, black, a few feathers 

 being tipped with white. In summer the head and 

 breast are uniform sooty black. These birds nest in col- 

 onies on cliffs; the female lays only one egg, three and 

 one-fourth by two inches in size, and in color from a pale 

 blue to a light buff, with brown spots. They bre d north 

 of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and migrate as far south as 

 New Jersey, where they are scarce but regular visitants 

 along the coast. They spend most of the day on the open 

 sea and live on fish exclusively. 



J\*uthatch^ Red-breastetl. — This and the next species 

 are frequently referred to as "tree mice," on account of 

 their acrobatic performances along the trunks of trees; 

 they run along the trunk of a tree in all kinds of positions, 

 apparently more at their ease when their heads are point- 

 ed down. The upside-down position is very characteris- 

 tic. They seldom if ever run up a tree but start at the 

 top and come down. The Red-breasted Nuthatch is four 

 and a half inches in length and eight inches in extent; 

 bill, half an inch long, very sharp and of a dark lead color; 

 general color above, blue gray; head, glossy black, with 

 a white line from the base of the bill over the eye to the 

 hind neck; long wing feathers, blackish brown, the inner- 

 most gray; tail, with central pair of feathers blue gray, 

 others blackish, with a spot of white near the tip of the 

 outer ones; under surface of the body, rusty red, whitish 

 on the throat and gray under the tail. Females and 

 young have the color of the under parts paler and the 

 head tinged with gray. 



The birds build their nests of grasses in holes in trees 

 or stumps; the eggs are from four to six in number, white 



