PARID^ — THE TITMICE. 123 



concert with great earnestness for several days, until the hole, which is round, 

 and not larger at the entrance than the body of the bird, is dug ten or twelve 

 inches deep, widening at the bottom. The eggs, according to Mr. Audubon, 

 are laid on the bare wood. This, however, is probably not their constant 

 liabit. The eggs, from four to six in number, and not much larger than those 

 of the Hunnning-Bird, have a white ground, thickly sprinkled with tine red- 

 dish-brown dots. They are said to raise two, and even three, broods in a 

 season. According to the observations of the late Dr. Gerhardt of Northern 

 Georgia, the Brown-headed Nuthatch breeds in that part of the country about 

 the 19th of April. 



The eggs of this Nuthatch are of a rounded oval shape, measuring .60 b}^ 

 .50 of an inch. Their white ground-color is so completely overlaid by a pro- 

 fusion of fine dottings of a dark purplish-brown as to be entirely concealed, 

 and the egg appears almost as if a uniform chocolate or brown color. 



