THE PYGMY NUTHATCH. 63 



that Maynard says he has frequently stood within a few feet ot 

 them without their noticing his presence. The entrances to the 

 nests are not always regular round holes. In a letter from 

 Mr. R M. Mitchell, who made a special study of the nidifica- 

 tion of this species, he tells me that all he ever saw had a door- 

 way "as though a piece of bark of irregular shape had been 

 broken out, and a cavity made in the decayed sap-wood behind." 

 The tunnel sinks to varying depths, — sometimes three inches, 

 sometimes ten or more. The nest proper is composed of thin 

 pieces of pine bark and rotten wood, mixed with hair, fine 

 woolly vegetable substances and downy feathers ; the latter ma- 

 terials forming the lining. Maynard mentions the soft fibrous 

 substance growing about the base of the leaves of the saw-pal- 

 metto as a favorite material for their nest-making. 



Fresh eggs are so delicate that it is very difficult to clean 

 them. The ground-color is chalky white, marked with cinna- 

 mon, reddish-brown and pale lavender spots, nearly coverino- 

 the large end, and also distributed over the entire surface. The 

 shape is oval, and the average measurement is .57 by .48 of an 

 inch. The eggs are thus only a trifle larger than the hum- 

 ming-bird's. 



Like the other nuthatches, these little fellows are vigilant 

 and brave in defending their nests, especially from the wood- 

 peckers. They go about in pairs, and the young birds of the 

 first hatching keep together, noisy and active, until joined by the 

 second tamily. Their food seems to be entirely the eggs and 

 young of insects, 



41. THE PYGMY NUTHATCH. 



SITTA PYGMEA Vigors. 



Californian Nuthatch. 



Resident from the Rocky mountains to the Pacifc coast, 

 from Vancouver southward into Mexico, and abundant in the 

 forests up to timber-limit, this "pygmy" greatly resembles the 

 preceding species, of which it is perhaps only a variety, and 



