NUTHATCHES 597 



various sorts, spiders, small moths and the eggs of various 

 insects as well. 



Family PARID^. Nuthatches and Tits. 



Key to the species of PARIDyE. 



A. Throat black. 



1. Crown black. Chickadee. 



2. Crown brown. Hudsonian Chickadee. 



B. Throat not black. 



1. Head crested. Tufted Titmouse. 



2. Head not crested. 



§. Below ochraceous buff or rufous; throat white; wing under 3.00. 



Red-breasted Nuthatch. 

 §§. Below white ; lower belly and under tail coverts mixed with ru- 

 fous ; wing over 3.00. White-breasted Nuthatch. 



Subfamily SITTING. Nuthatches. 

 Genus SITTA Linnaeus. 



727. SUta carolinensis Lath. White-breasted Nuthatch; 

 Sapsucker. 



Plimiage of adult male : top of head and hind neck glossy black ; wings 

 black, with white on primaries basally and a speck of white on their outer 

 border near the middle : two middle tail feathers bluish gray, the others 

 black with subterminal white patches ; otherwise above bluish gray ; white 

 on sides of head and under parts, save that on the lower belly and under 

 tail coverts there is a washing or intermixtmre of rufous. Plumage of adult 

 female : crown and back of head with the black duller and more restricted, 

 veiled with bluish gray ; otherwise similar to male. Immature plumage : 

 above cinerous gray with dusky edgings ; otherwise very similar. Wing 3.55 ; 

 tail 1.96; culmen 0.80. 



Geog. Dist. — Eastern North America, breeding from the Gulf States to New 

 Brunswick and Minnesota, west to the Rocky Mountains ; usually resident 

 throughout its range. 



County Records. — Androscoggin; fairly common resident, (Call). Aroos- 

 took; occurs at Houlton, (Batchelder, B. N. 0. C. 7, p. 109). Cumberland ; 

 common resident, (Mead); uncommon in migrations and winter, (Brown, C. B. 

 P. p. 5). Franklin; common resident, (Swain). Hancock; rare and local 

 resident, rather common in fall, (Knight). Kennebec ; quite common resi- 

 dent, (Gardiner Branch). Knox; rare migrant, (Rackliff). Oxford; breeds, 



