THE SLENDER-BILLED NUTHATCH. ie B25 
ially on the main trunk route. He pries under bark-scales and lichens, peers 
into crevices and explores cavities in his search for tiny insects, larvae, and 
insects’ eggs, especially the latter. The value of the service which this bird 
and his associates perform for the horticulturist is simply incalculable. ‘There 
should be as heavy a penalty imposed upon one who wantonly kills a Nuthatch 
or a Chickadee, as upon one who enters an enclosure and cuts down an 
orchard or a shade tree. 
The Nuthatch has a variety of notes, all distinguished by a peculiar nasal 
quality. When hunting with the troop he gives an occasional softly resonant 
tut or tut-tut, as if to remind his fellows that all’s well. ‘The halloo note is 
more decided, tim, pronounced a la francaise. By means of this note and by 
using it in combination, they seem to be able to carry on quite an animated 
conversation, calling across from tree to tree. During the mating season, 
and often at other times, they have an even more decided and distinctive note, 
quonk, quonk, quonk, or ho-onk, ho-onk, in moderate pitch, and with deliber- 
ation. They have also a sort of trumpeting song, but this is rarely heard in 
Washington; and, indeed, all the notes of the Slender-billed Nuthatch have 
a softened and subdued character as compared with those of the eastern bird, 
typical S. carolinensis. 
The nest of this Nuthatch is placed in a cavity carefully chiselled out, 
usually at a considerable height, in a pine stub, dead fir, or cottonwood. Both 
sexes share the labor of excavation, and when the cavity is somewhat deep- 
ened one bird removes the chips while the other delves. Like all the hole- 
nesting species of this family, but unlike the Woodpeckers, the Nuthatches 
provide for their home an abundant lining of moss, fur, feathers, and the like. 
This precaution is justified from the fact that they are early nesters—com- 
plete sets of eggs being found no later than the second week in April. 
The male is a devoted husband and father, feeding the female incessantly 
during incubation, and sharing with her in the care of the large family long 
after many birds have forgotten their young. The young birds early learn 
to creep up to the mouth of the nesting hole to receive food when their turn 
comes; and they are said to crawl about the parental tree for some days 
before they attempt flight. 
The Slender-billed Nuthatch is of rare occurrence west of the Cascades, 
being chiefly confined to the wooded edges of the prairies. In the eastern 
half of the State it may be rare locally but increases in abundance in the north- 
eastern section. Wherever found, this bird associates freely with the related 
species and is especially fond of the society of the Pygmies. A winter bird 
troop encountered near Spokane included, beside a half dozen Slender-bills, 
as many Red-breasted Nuthatches, a score of Pygmies, a dozen Mountain 
Chickadees, four or five Batchelder Woodpeckers, a few Clark Nutcrackers, 
and twenty Red-shafted Flickers. 
