288 THE SLENDER-BILLED NUTHATCH. 
outer wing-quills fuscous, the second and three or four succeeding primaries 
narrowly touched with white on outer web in retreating order; inner quills and 
coverts with much black centering; tail feathers, except upper pair, black, the 
outer pairs squarely blotched with white in subterminal to terminal order ; sides of 
head, and neck well up, and underparts white with a faint bluish tinge; distinctly 
marked, or washed more or less, on flanks and crissum with rusty brown; bill 
stout, subulate, the under mandible slightly recurved—blackish plumbeous above, 
lighter at base of lower mandible; feet dark brown; iris brown. Adult female: 
similar to male, but black of head and back more or less veiled by color of back. 
Length 5.50-6.10 (139.7-154.9) ; wing 3.43 (87); tail 1.81 (46); bill .77 (10.5); 
tarsus .72 (18.2). 
Recognition Marks.—\Varbler to Sparrow size; tree-creeping habits; biack 
and ashy blue above; white below. 
Nesting.—Nest: a deserted Woodpecker hole, or newly-made cavity in 
stump or tree, usually at a considerable distance from the ground, and lined with 
leaves, feathers, or hair. Eggs: 5-8, sometimes 9 or even 10, white, thickly 
speckled and spotted with reddish brown and lavender. Av. size, .76x.56 
(19.3 14.2). Season: April, May; one brood. 
General Range.—Pacific Coast states and British Columbia (to Ashcroft), 
in the northern portion of its range east of the Cascades. Non-migratory. 
Range in Washington.— Resident, of regular occurrence in pine timber east 
of Cascades; rare and local in Puget Sound region. 
Authorities.—? Townsend, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila. VIII. 1839, 155 
(Columbia River). Sitta aculeata, Cassin, Cooper and Suckiey, Rep. Pac. R. R. 
Siblinys OCI Fores WINE asloroy, jou ms © (1D) (Gees. Ime IDES Rei IE 18h 
Specimens.—(U. of W.) Proy. C. 
IV ho-ew' 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 goes the Macfarlane Screech Owl in broad 
daylight. There is an instant hush on the pine-clad hillside—a hush followed 
by an excited murmur of inquiry among the scattered members of a winter 
bird-troop. If you happen to be the Screech Owl, seated motionless at the 
base of some large tree and half obscured in its shadows, perhaps the first in- 
timation you will have that the search party is on your trail will be the click, 
click, click, of tiny claws on the tree-bole above your head, followed by a 
quank of interrogation, almost comical for its mixture of baffled anxiety and 
dawning suspicion of the truth. He is an inquisitive fellow, this Nuthatch, 
for, you see, prying is his business; but he is brave as well. The chances are 
that he will venture down within a foot or two of your face before he flutters 
off with a loud outery of alarm. When excited, as when regarding a suspi- 
cious object, he has an odd fashion of rapidly right-and-left facing on a hori- 
zontal bough, as tho to try both eyes on you and lose no time between. 
Nuthatch is the acknowledged acrobat of the woods—not that he acts for 
display ; it is all business with him. <A tree is a complete gymnasium in itself, 
and the bird is master of it all. In all positions, any side up, this bird is there, 
fearless, confident; in fact, he rather prefers traveling head downward, espec- 
