PARID.E — THE TITMICE. 121 



Mr. J. K. Lord found tliis Nuthatch an ahundant bird along the entire 

 length of the huundaiy line from the coast to the llocky Mountains. It was 

 also common on Vancouver Island. They were seen in large flocks in com- 

 pany witli the Chickadees, except during the nesting-time, vv Inch is in June. 

 A few were winter residents at Colville, hut the greater number left in 

 November. He descriljes it as a very active bird, always on the move. 

 After nesting thev con«aet'ate in lar^e flocks and move al)Out from tree to 

 tree, twittering a low sweet note as if singing to tliemselves, now climbing 

 back downwards along the under sides of the topmost branches of tall pines, 

 searching into every crevice for insects, or, descending to the ground, cling- 

 ing to the slender Hower-stalks for other insects. They nest in June, make 

 a hole in the dead l>ranch of a pine, and deposit their eggs on the bare chips 

 of the wood. Tliis account does not agree with the experience of California 

 ornithologists, who have found a loose nest within the excavation. 



Mr. Piidgway found this Nuthatch abundant among the pines of the Sierra 

 Nevada, in the vicinity of Carson City. They were found generally in pairs. 

 Its note is said to greatly resend>le the vociferous peeping of some of the 

 small Sandpipers, being sharp, loud, and distinct, and vigorously and continu- 

 ously uttered, whether climbing or Hying. He found it exceedingly hard to 

 discover this bird among the branches, or even when flying, owing to the 

 swiftness and irregularity of its flight. When the female of a pair had been 

 killed, the male bird was extremely loud in his lamentations. Diminutive 

 as this bird is, Mr. Kidgway states that it is also the noisiest of all the feath- 

 ered inhabitants of the pines, tliough it is less active in the pursuit of insects 

 than the larger species. 



Nests of this bird obtained near Monterey appear to be as well made as 

 those of any of this genus, lining the cavity in which they are placed and 

 conforming to it in size and shape, the materials sufficiently interwoven to 

 permit removal and preservation, and warndy constructed of feathers, wool, 

 vegetable down, hair, and the silky ettlorescence of seeds. 



Their eggs, seven in number, resemble tliose of the *S*. cfrnadensis, but are 

 of smaller size and a little more pointed at one end. Their ground-color 

 is crystalline-white. This is covered more or less thickly with red spots, most 

 numerous at the larger end. Their measure varies from .65 by .50 to .GO by 

 .47 of an inch. The first eu:us of this bird broui»ht to the notice of natural- 

 ists were procured at Fort Crook on the Upper Sacr.imento of California, and 

 not far from Mount Shasta, by Sergeant John Feilner, U. S. A., forming part 

 of a very extensive collection of birds and eggs transmitted by him to the 

 Smiths'inian Institution. Promoted to a lieutenancy for gallant conduct, 

 this gentleman finally attained the rank of ca])tain of cavalry, and was killed 

 by the Sioux during an exi>loring expedition into Dacotah under General 

 Sully. 



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