THE NUTHATCHES 1615 



recess in the rock is selected, and a funnel made of mud and little bits of dry grass 

 is built in front of it. It is quite an important affair; the base is frequently twenty- 

 four inches in circumference, and the walls vary in thickness from half an inch to an 

 inch and a half. The tube of the funnel, which, of course, serves for the ingress 

 and egress of the bird, is about four inches long, with an internal diameter of an inch 

 and a quarter at the entrance. The outside of the nest is carefully made to resemble 

 the appearance of the rock against which it is built. One which I brought home 

 with me is curiously corrugated or granulated, to imitate the calcareous deposits on 

 the inside of the cave where I found it. The nest is warmly lined with goats' wool, 

 thistle down, and all sorts of soft materials. As might be expected in a bird which 

 remains in its summer home during the winter, it is an early breeder, laying its eggs 

 about the middle of April; and it would not appear to breed a second time in the 

 year, as all the nests I found in June were empty. The number of eggs vary from 

 six to ten. They are very beautiful, well marked, and unlike any other egg with 

 which I am acquainted. The typical egg is about the size of that of the wryneck, 

 but rather wider and flatter at the top and straighter at the sides. It has the same 

 pearly- white ground color, spotted with large rust-colored blotches." This nuthatch 

 seems to confine itself entirely to rocks, and never alights on the trunk of a tree. 

 The adult male has the entire upper parts leaden blue; a black stripe passes through 

 the eye; the quills are bluish brown, edged with russet; the tail is blackish brown, 

 with the outer feathers tipped with, russet; and the throat and lower parts are white- 

 tinged with russet on the flanks and abdomen. 



One of the most abundant of the nuthatches of North America is 

 y the widely-distributed pygmy nuthatch (S. pygmcea), which roams 



through the woods in flocks composed of its own kind, occasionally 

 joining company with tits and warblers. As many as twenty or thirty may some- 

 times be seen together, calling incessantly to one another. They feed partly upon 

 the tiny insects which they find lurking in the crevices of the tree bark, partly upon 

 the seeds of fir trees. Their notes are very varied. The eggs of this nuthatch are 

 deposited in the hole of a tree, which is sometimes lined and sometimes left bare; 

 the eggs being pinkish white dotted with reddish. The young birds leave the nest 

 in the month of June. Mr. Trippe furnishes the following notice of this bird, which 

 he found breeding up to an elevation of eight thousand five hundred feet in Colo- 

 rado: "The pygmy nuthatch is a delicate little fellow, with more of the habits and 

 voice of 5". canadensis than of the white-breasted species; a similarity carried out by 

 the coloration of the tail, and their half warbler-like movements at times. They are 

 very active and incessantly on the move, creeping over the trunks and limbs of the 

 pines, and tapping vigorously here and there like a woodpecker, and far louder than 

 the other nuthatches do." The adult bird has the upper parts ashy blue; the top 

 of the head and sides to below the eyes olive brown, bordered with black; the tail 

 feathers are blackish, spotted with white, except the two central ones, which are 

 blue; and the under parts vary from bufnsh white to a rich rusty color. 



