Birds of Indiana. 1131 



h- Family PARID^ NurHAiCHE:) and Titp. 



a'. Bill long and slender, the lower mandible slanting upward; tail sliort. 



Subfamily Sitting. Sitta. 172 

 «'-. Bill short and stout ; tail long. Subfamily Pakin.k. Pakus. 173 



SlUFAMII.Y SITTIN^E. NUTHATCIIKS. 



17-2. Gkms sitta LiNN.KUs. 



a*. White below. S. carolinensis Lath. 306 



rt^. Rusty brown below. S. canadensis Linn. 307 



'■'306. (727). Sitta carolinensis. Lath. 



White-breasted Nuthatch. 

 Synonyms, White- Bellied Nuthatch, Carolina Nuthatch, Tomtit. 



Adulf Male. — Above, bluish-gra}'; crown, glossy black; secondaries, 

 marked Avith black, the quills with some white; side of head, stripe 

 over the 63^6 and most of the loM^er parts, white; the lower tail coverts, 

 partly rufous; tail, black and white. Adult Female. — Similar, but top 

 of head, dark gray, black behind. 



Length, 5.25-6.15; wing, 3.50-3.75; tail, 1.95-2.30. 



Range. — Eastern North America, from Georgia and Texas north 

 •to New Brunswick, Ontario and Minnesota; west to Kansas. Resident 

 throughout most of its range. 



Nest, in natural or artificial hole in tree or stub, 4 to 90 feet up; of 

 hair, fur, feathers, moss, bark or lichens. FJggs, 8, sometimes 5 or 7, 

 rarely 9 or 10; white, creamy-white, pinkish- white, spotted with chest- 

 nut, hazel or vinaceous, and distinctly or obscurely with lilac-gray; 

 markings heavier at larger end; .72 by .56. Often two broods. 



The Carolina Nuthatch is a common resident throughout Indiana. 

 In the extreme northern portion of the State, they are fewer in num- 

 bers during the winter. All that season they are to be found, keeping 

 company with Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Downy Woodpeckers, Jun- 

 cos and Tree Sparrows. An interesting group, moving about for the 

 sake of food and enjoying each other's company. They are to be 

 found at this season almost everywhere, clambering over fences and 

 creeping about trees, as often with the head down as otherwise, dili- 

 gently searching for insects, which had thought they had found secure 

 winter retreats. The energy with which the Nuthatch hunts and the 

 vigor with which it pursues an insect, often pounding like a Wood- 

 pecker to detach a piece of bark or break through into a burrow, shows 

 that even those who think themselves safe are sometimes deceived. 

 Their work, like that of the Brown Creeper and the Red-breasted 



