236 The Nuthatches 



one with punky wood, but the bark still clinging. In other cases poplar 

 trees and birches are chosen, but the locality is usually in spruce woods, or 

 at least in woods where conifers abound. Both sexes work at the exca- 

 vation. The hole is usually lined with finely shredded bark or wood- 

 fibers, and perhaps with soft grasses or feathers. The eggs number 

 four to six or seven, are white or cream-white, and speckled with reddish- 

 brown and lavender. The most remarkable and char- 



P Nest-ho1e d acteristic thing about the nest is that the entrance- 

 hole is invariably surrounded by a ring of pitch, 

 brought from a neighboring spruce, pine, or balsam fir. 



It breeds in the Canadian fauna, and its migrations are dependent 

 largely on the cone-crop in the forests about its home. If cones are 

 abundant in the White Mountains, for instance, the Red-breasted Nut- 

 hatches of that region remain there for the winter. If, however, the 

 crop is a failure, as not infrequently happens, the birds go southward 

 in late summer and early autumn. When they migrate south they are 

 rather likely to go beyond southern New England. 



One interesting habit of this bird, in connection with its migration, 

 is the curious one of dropping down on ships at sea. Birds of many 

 kinds occasionally alight on ships far away from land, but no other, .1 

 think, so habitually as the Red-breasted Nuthatch. It may be seen on 

 such occasions traveling in its characteristic fashion up and down the 

 masts and shrouds, and even alighting on the hats and clothing of persons 

 on deck. Red-breasted Nuthatches are also frequently found climbing 

 over the rocks on the seashore, or on islands off-shore. I suspect that 

 these little birds, not accustomed to long flights, on finding themselves 

 far from land, are glad to drop down on anything that promises to give 

 them a foothold and a prospect of rest and food. They show their 

 adaptability by making the best of things wherever they find themselves, 

 and on sea, as on land, they win the hearts of men. 



The Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla) is a species of the pine- 

 regions of the Southern States ; is somewhat smaller 



Nuthatches than the R ed-breasted, and has the top of the head 

 brownish-gray, and a whitish patch on the nape. 



The Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaa) is even a trifle smaller than 

 the Brown-headed, and has a grayish-olive crown and buffy-white under- 

 parts ; its habitat is west of the Rocky Mountains. 

 Classification and Distribution 



The Nuthatches belong to the Order Passeres, Suborder Oscines, Family 

 Sittidce and Genus Sitta. The White-breasted is named Sitta carolinensis. It 

 ranges over all temperate North America, and five geographical races are recog- 

 nized. The Red-breasted is named Sitta canadensis. Its range in the breeding 

 season is more northerly than that of the White-breasted, and it shows more ten- 

 dency toward migration. 



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