240 



THE RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 



sion of simple sylables, tew, tew, tew, tew, tew, which are musical, vibrant, and 

 far-sounding, a sort of trumpeting, out of all proportion to the size of the bird. 



The nest of the Nuthatch is placed in a cavity carefully chiselled out and 

 usually at a great height in an elm tree or perhaps an oak. Both sexes share 

 the labor of excavation, and when the cavity is somewhat deepened 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 precau- 

 tion is justified from the fact that they are early nesters complete 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 with her sharing 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. 



No. 104. 



RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 



A. O. U. No. 728. Sitta canadensis Linn. 



Synonyms. RED-BELLIED NUTHATCH ; CANADIAN NUTHATCH. 



Description. Adult male : Crown and nape shining black ; white sup- 

 erciliary lines meeting on extreme forehead ; a black band through eye ; remaining 

 upper parts grayish blue; wings fuscous, unmarked; tail-feathers, 'except upper 

 pair, black ; the outer pairs subterminally blotched with white in retreating- order ; 

 chin, and sides of head, and neck below the black, pure white; remaining under 

 parts rusty or ochraceous-brown ; bill short, subulate, plumbeous-black ; feet dark 

 brown. Adult female : Similar, but crown like the back, with only traces of black 

 beneath: lateral head-stripe blackish; usually paler rusty below. Immature: 

 Like adult female. Length, 4.25-4.75 ( io8.-i2O.6) ; average of seven Columbus 

 specimens: wings 2.61 (66.3) ; tail 1.43 (36.3) ; bill .50 (12.7). 



Recognition Marks. Pygmy size ; black and grayish blue above ; rusty be- 

 low ; tree-creeping habits. 



Nesting. Not known to breed in Ohio. Nest, of grasses, feathers, etc., in a 

 hole of tree or stub, usually at lower levels. Eggs, 4 to 6, white or creamy-white, 

 speckled with reddish brown and lavender. Average size, .59 x .47 (15. x 11.9). 



General Range. North America at large, breeding from northern New 

 England, northern New York, and northern Michigan northward, and southward 



