FAMILY Paridz. 
White- This active and sprightly little Nut- 
breasted hatch is one of our common winter birds; 
Nuthatch 
Sitta he is in frequent association with the 
Guvalitense Chickadee and the Downy Woodpecker, 
L.6.o0inches and one muy look for him along with the 
Allthe year = companies of these birds which frequently 
‘turn up” suddenly and unexpectedly in the fall season 
when most of the feathered tribe have long since flown 
south. The White-breasted Nuthatch is a charming lit- 
tle symphony in modest gray, black, and white. Over 
his head extends a glossy black cap which reaches down 
to the back; upper parts bluish gray, the wings a dusky 
gray with the inner secondaries blue-gray marked with 
black; wing-coverts tipped with dull white; middle tail 
feathers gray, outer ones black with white patches near 
their tips; sides of head and under parts white; the ex- 
treme under parts and under tail-coverts washed with | 
faint Indian red. Female similarly marked, but the 
black cap suffused with the bluish gray of the back. 
Nest in a hole of a tree or stump, sometimes the deserted 
quarters of a Woodpecker; the cavity is lined with grasses 
and feathers. Egg cream white thickly and evenly 
flecked with various browns. This bird is common 
throughout eastern North America; it breeds from 
Georgia north to Minnesota and New Brunswick, and 
is generally resident throughout that range. The Red- 
breasted Nuthatch is a much smaller bird, but 4.55 
inches long, and is easily distinguished by the white 
stripe which extends backward just above the eye, and 
the sienna brown washing over the under parts. The 
note of this Nuthatch is also different from that of the 
other bird; it is characterized by a higher-pitched nasal 
nyaa, nyaa delivered in slower tempo. 
The Nuthatches have no song; their call-note is a 
decided nasal monotone of an extremely low pitch com- 
pared with the whistled notes of the other birds. The 
White-breasted’s yank, yank, yank, is, as nearly as I 
can locate such a peculiar tone, somewhere near the first 
A, or B, above middle C * on the piano keyboard, thus: 
* My diagram in the musical key shows the note of this Nuthatch. 
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