WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 



727. Sitta carolinensis. 6 inches. 



Male with the crown bluish black; female with 

 the crown gray; both sexes with chestnut under tail 

 coverts. 



These birds seem to be the very opposite of the 

 Brown Creepers. Their tails are short and square, 

 and nearly always pointed towards the zenith, for 

 Nuthatches usually clamber among the branches and 

 down the tree trunks, head first. 



Note. A nasal yank-yank, and a repeated ya-ya 

 all on the same tone. 



Nest. In cavities of hollow limbs and trunks of 

 trees at any elevation from the ground; the cavity 

 is filled with leaves and usually lined with feathers; 

 eggs white, spotted with reddish brown (.75 x .55). 



Range. Eastern United States, breeding from the 

 Gulf to southern Canada; resident in most of its 

 range. 727b. Florida White-breasted Nuthatch 

 (atkinsi) is slightly smaller; other races are found 

 west of the Rockies. 



