WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 



SiTTA CAROLINENSIS. 



Char. Above, bluish ash ; top of head and neck black ; wings black, 

 blue, and white; tail black, marked with white; beneath, white; under 

 tail-coverts reddish brown. Bill long and acute. Female and young 

 similar, but black of head tinged with ashy or wanting. Length 5^ 

 inches. 



Nest. In open woodland, placed at the bottom of a cavity excavated 

 in a dead tree or stump, — sometimes an old woodpecker's nest is used; 

 made of leaves, grass, feathers, and hair. 



Eggs. 4-8 (occasionally as many as 10, usually 5) ; white tinged with 

 rose pink, and spotted with reddish brown and lilac ; 0.80 X 0.60. 



This species, so nearly allied to the European Nuthatch, re- 

 sides permanently throughout North America, from Hudson 

 Bay and Oregon to the tableland of Mexico, appearing only 

 more common and familiar at the approach of winter in con- 

 sequence of the failure of its food in its favorite sylvan re- 

 treats, which it now often forsakes for the open fields, orchards, 

 or gardens, where, in pairs or small and sometimes contending 



