BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 339 



a loud, shrill note. These birds are more common in the 

 northern states, in winter, than at any other time ; because 

 thty are then driven from their homes by the severity of the 

 cold. 



SLENDER BILLED BIRDS. 



The White-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta Carolinensis is seen 

 in autumn and winter, not because it migrates to us at that 

 season, but because the supplies of food in the forest fail, and 

 it resorts to fields, gardens, and the neighborhood of houses, in 

 search of insects, such as ants and spiders. At a distance, it is 

 easily mistaken for the downy woodpecker, though more lively 

 in its motions. It moves sideways or head downwards, with 

 great rapidity, stopping every now and then to cast an in- 

 quiring look at the observer. Its bill is strong and sharp, and 

 when it would open an acorn or chestnut, it holds it in a cre- 

 vice, and splits it with strokes of its bill. Its tongue is capa- 

 ble of extension like the woodpeckers, so that it has great 

 advantages for procuring a subsistence ; but, if it were less 

 favored, it might contrive to live, since it is sometimes seen 

 hopping among the poultry on the ground. 



These birds chisel out a perforation in a decaying tree, in 

 which to deposit the eggs. These are five, dusky white, 

 spotted with brown at the larger end. The young are fed and 

 taught to fly with affectionate care. They are fond of roosting 

 in their own nest, and are believed to return to it year after 

 year. They are easily known by their cry, quank, two or three 

 times repeated, as they run over a tree. 



The Red-bellied Nuthatch, Sitta Ca7iade7isis, is more 

 common among us than the other. It is not found farther 

 south than Maryland, and becomes more common as we pro- 

 ceed toward Maine, where many of them are hardy enough 



