188 Noirni AMKIilCAN IJlKhS. 



He supposed this l»ir<l to liave a more northern (hstrilniti<»n tlian helcnigs to 

 it. In the interior they are met wiih, a(c«>nlinn to Auihihon, as far north as 

 the southern sliores of Like Krie, where lie found them in the autumn. ^Fr. 

 Auihihon found them more numerous in Xew Jersey than anywhere else. In 

 Ohio and Kentueky they are eomitaratively rare. Mr. IJidLiway informs me 

 that this is a rather eonniion species in Southern Illinois in the thickest 

 dumj* wonds in the hottom-lands alon;^ the Wal>ash Iliver. 



Aeeordinu' to AVilson, these hirds are amoni; the nind)lest of its family, and 

 are remarkahly fond of s])ider.s, jlartini; ahout wherever there is a ]»rohahility 

 of finding; these insects. Where branches are liroken and the leaves withered, 

 it searches amon'4 them in preference, making a <Teat rustliuL' as it hunts for 

 its l>rey. Their stomachs are uenerally found full of spitlers and cater}»illars. 



These hirds are aihoreal in their }»references, residinn in the interior of 

 woods, and are seldom seen in the ojten tields. They resort to the ground 

 and turn over the dry leaves in (piest of insects. They are very unsuspi- 

 cious and easy of apjn-oach. 



Xuttall describes their notes and their habits as resemblinu; the conmion 

 Parvs atricapUJua, and remarks that they are constantly utterin*^ a com- 

 plaining call, soundinix like ts/ie-(/e-<fe. 



Until (piite recently, nothing has been positively known in reijard to its 

 nestiuijj. Audubon has described its nest as made of drv mosses and the 

 fallen bloom of the hickory and the chestnut, and as built in bu.shes several 

 feet from the ground. He describes the eu:irs as cream-colored, marked about 

 the larger end with reddish-ltrown. These descriptions have not l)een con- 

 firmed, and all our information has led us to look for its nest on the ground. 



Mr. Trij>pe states that it is found, but is not at all common, near Orange, 

 X. y., where it arrives about the middle of ^lay. It has, at that time, a 

 ra])id, chattering note, and it always, he says, kee})s near the ground, and, 

 l)esides its chatterinij sonii;, has in June a series of odd notes, much like 

 those of the White-breasted Nuthatch, but more varied and musical, yet 

 hardly entitled to be called a song. 



Mr. T. H. Jackson of Westchester, Penn., in the American Naturalist for 

 December, 18^9, mentions finding the nest and eggs of this l)ird. We give 

 his account in his own words: " On the (>th of June, 18()1>, I found a ne.st 

 of this s])ecies containing five eggs. It was placed in a hollow on the ground, 

 much like the nests of the Oven-Bird (*SV^/^;v^s^ nwonipiUns), and was hidden 

 from sight by the dry leaves that lay thickly around. The nest was com- 

 posed externally of dead leaves, mostly those of the beech, while the inte- 

 rior was prettily lined with the fine, thread-like stalks of the hair-moss, 

 {Poh/frichivrn). Altogether it was a very neat structure, and looked to me as 

 though the owner was habituallv a «j:round nester. The ei^gs most nearly 

 resemble those of the White-bellied Nuthatch (Sittn enrol incnsU), though the 

 markings are fewer and less distinct. So close did the female sit that I 

 captured her without difticulty by placing my hat over the nest." 



