344: LAND BIRDS 
728. RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH. — Sitta canadensis. 
Famity: The Nuthatches and Tits. 
Length : 4,12-4.75. 
Adult Male: Top of head black ; a white line over the eye and black 
line through the eye; upper parts bluish slate-color; tail with white 
patches on outer feathers ; under parts whitish, washed heavily with 
bright red-brown. 
Adult Female: Entire upper parts bluish slate-color ; under parts paler 
and duller than male. 
Young: Similar to female, but duller. 
Geographical Distribution : Mountains of North America, south in win- 
ter to Southern United States. 
California Breeding Range: Breeds irregularly along the higher Sierra 
Nevada in the middle and northern parts of the State. 
Breeding Season: May and June. 
Nest: In an old stub, usually within 6 feet of the ground; lined with 
shredded inner bark and vegetable fibre. 
Eggs: 4 to 8; grayish white, sparsely speckled with red-brown. Size 
0.60 X 0.50. 
THE Red-breasted Nuthatch is the same familiar slate- 
gray bird in California that he is in the oak groves of 
Illinois or the forests of Maine. In California he follows 
the footsteps of spring up into the mountains, and makes 
his nest in the natural cavities of dead trees, coming 
down to milder levels when the snow flies. Yet he is a 
hardy little fellow and loves the cold, and only the de- 
crease of insect life induces him to seek a fatter larder 
elsewhere. The nesting habits of this species are essen- 
tially like those of the slender-billed nuthatch. 
