PERCHING BIRDS 



NUTHATCHES AND TITS. Family SITTID^E 



727. White-breasted Nuthatch. Sitta 

 Caroline nsis carolinensis. 



Range. — United States east of the Rockies, 

 breeding from the Gulf to southern Canada : 

 resident throughout its range. 



These birds are creepers, but unlike the last 

 species, these run about on the trunks, either 

 up or down; their tails are not pointed and 

 stiffened like those of the Brown 

 Creepers, and their plumage i 

 gray and black above with a 

 black crown, and white below. 

 They nest in holes in trees, 

 usually deep in the woods and 

 at any elevation from the 

 ground; they nearly always use deserted Wood- 

 peckers' holes but are said at times to exca- 

 vate their own, with great labor as their bills 

 are little adapted for that work. They line the 

 cavities with bark strips and hair or feathers, 

 and during April or May, lay from four to nine 

 white eggs, profusely specked with reddish 

 brown and lilac. Size .80 x .60. Data. — Lancaster, Mass., May 

 hole in an oak tree, 45 feet above ground; made of fine strips 

 hair. 



sted 



1 1 1 1 1 .- 1 1 . - 1 1 



16, 1902. 

 Of bark 



Nesl in 

 fibre ami 



727a. Slender-billed Nuthatch. Sitta carolinensis aculeata. 



Range.— North America, west of the Rockies and from Mexico to British Co- 

 lumbia. 



This species is as abundant in the west as the last is in the east, and nests in 

 like situations. The eggs cannol be distinguished from those of the ea 

 birds. 



727b. Florida White-breasted Nuthatch. Sitta carolinensis atkinsi. 



Range. Florida and the South Atlantic coasl to South Carolina. 



The habits and eggs of these birds are like those of the northern ones. 



727c Rocky Mountain Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis nelsoni. 



Range. Rocky .Mountains from Mexico north to British Columbia. 

 Their nesting habits or egg are nol distinctive In any respect. 



7 ';,| San l.i 1 is \i thati 11. Sitta carolinensis lagunar. 



Range. Mountain range: ol Lower California. 



Said to be like aculeata but with the winga and tail Blightly Bhorter. 



I :i 



