THE OOLOGIST. 



55 



Nesting- Habits of the Red-breasted 

 Nuthatch. 



The Red-breasted Nuthatch Sitla can- 

 udensis is generally distributed through- 

 out this State, occuring as a resident of 

 varying abundance in that portion 

 which is embraced iu the Canadian 

 Fauna, and as a winter resident in the 

 southwestern part. The species is 

 most abundant in spring and fall, and 

 when resident, is moi'e common in 

 summer than iu winter. Though oc- 

 curing at all seasons they are somewhat 

 migratory, moving southward in the 

 fail and returning in the spring, but 

 whether the winter birds are individ- 

 uals that do not take part in the mi- 

 gratory movement, or are migrants 

 from the north 1 am unable to deter- 

 mine. The past winter I found these 

 birds wintering quite commonly in 

 Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, 

 along th9 shore of the Bay of Fundy. 



The call-note "quank'" "qiiank"' 

 *'quank'' is well known, but the numer- 

 ous conversational notes of which they 

 have quite an extensive command, are 

 not so often heard. Many of these are 

 uttered in so low and soft a tone that 

 one must be quite near the birds to 

 hear them. I think their notes are 

 more varied than those of their White- 

 breasted relative which is much less 

 common here, but are not as loud. I 

 have never seen the two species asso- 

 ciated, though the Red-breasted gets 

 along very amiably with the Chicka- 

 dees and Brown Creepers, and are 

 usually found with them in the spring 

 and fall. 



In their quest for food most of their 

 time is spent on the trunks and limbs 

 of the large trees, searching the in- 

 terstices in the bark and the bunches of 

 moss for something edible, working 

 with much assiduity, all the time on the 

 go, often clinging head downward, 

 and with much conversational chatter. 

 In the fall they frequently ascend to 



the tops of the spruces, woi'king about 

 over the limbs and searching the cones 

 closely. In rare instances I have seen 

 them come to the ground and scratch 

 around among the leaves for food. In 

 this locality the birds usually com- 

 mence nesting operations late in 

 April and the full complement 

 is generally in the nest 



by the 20Lh of May, though the date 

 varies somewhat accoi'ding to the earli- 

 ness or lateness of the spring. The 

 locality chosen is in old growths, prin- 

 cipally of soft wood, in which dead and 

 decaying tir stubs are numerous, and 

 where the ground is rather low and 

 damp. 



Fir stubs are most frequently chosen 

 and the nest cavities are excavated at 

 heights varying from five to forty feet. 

 Most of the nests I have examined were 

 between fifteen and thirty feet from 

 the ground. The slender bill of the 

 bird is hardly strong enough for dig- 

 ging in sound wood and the nests are 

 nearly always in wood so rotten that it 

 is easily broken away with the fingers, 

 or can be cut away with a jack-knife. 

 The nests are easily found. I generally 

 go into the woods about the time the 

 birds are excavating a nest cavity and 

 listen for their note. They are usually 

 near the nest and once they are located 

 the nest can be found by observing the 

 birds. The tapping of the bird in the 

 nest-hole can be heard some distance 

 away and is easily located. 



I have never seen the birds sharing 

 the work of excavation a^ is done by 

 the Chickadees, Mr. Nuthatch allowing 

 his better half to do it all, though he is 

 near and offers encouragement in the 

 way of song and occasionally a dainty 

 morsel is brought and presented for re- 

 freshment. The female (distinguished 

 by her paler coloration) enters the cav- 

 ity and taps away for a time, then 

 brings out the bits of wood she has de- 

 tached. Usually she comes entirely out 

 of the hole standing head downward 



