io8 Bird Studies. 



into the bright reddish brown of the lower parts, which is continuous, includ- 

 ing the feathers below the tail. 



The middle tail feathers are like the back in color, the next ones are 

 black, and the outer ones are black with white patches near their tips. The 

 wings are like the back in color, the quills are dusky, tipped and edged with 

 the color of the back, bluish gray. 



The females and immature birds are duller than the males, have more or 

 less suffusion of bluish gray on the head markings, and vary on the under 

 parts from buff to obscure buffy white. 



The bird is found throughout North America, breeds from Northern 

 New York and New Eneland north, and south on the higher altitudes of the 

 Alleghanies to North Carolina. It winters from its southern breeding limits 

 to the southern boundary of the United States. 



In the pine woods of our Southern States is found the fourth member of 



this group, the Brown-headed Nuthatch. Smaller than the Red-bellied Nut- 



r. t. J J hatch, it is about four and a quarter inches long. The 



Brown-headed . , , ^ , . '^ 



Nuthatch. cap on the head is grayish brown, and there is a more or 



sitta pusiua Lath. iggg defined round spot of wliitc on the nape of the neck. 

 The upper parts are bluish gray, including the middle tail feathers, and the 

 under parts are whitish gray. The outer tail feathers are black, with grayish 

 tips. This is an abundant species and except in the breeding season gre- 

 garious, going about in large bands. 



All of these Nuthatches are essentially alike in their breeding and nesting 

 habits, and their eggs do not vary greatly in appearance, except in size. 

 They breed in deserted Woodpecker holes, and other cavities in trees and 

 stumps, line such places with a nest structure of grasses and feathers, and 

 lay from four to six or seven white eggs, spotted and flecked with brown of 

 varying shades. Those of the White-breasted Nuthatch are about three 

 quarters of an inch long, and less than three fifths in width, those of the 

 Red-bellied Nuthatch are three fifths of an inch in length by less than half 

 an inch wide, and the eggs of the Brown-headed Nuthatch are very little 

 smaller. 



This bird is a close ally, being a geographical race of the Brown Creeper 

 found in Northern Europe and Great Britain. It is a small bird, about five 



