180 WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 
The Tufted Titmouse is a more southern bird than 
the Chickadee and is rarely found north of northern New 
Jersey, where, however, it remains 
throughout the year. It is six inches 
in length, gray above, whitish below. 
with a black forehead, reddish brown sides, and a con- 
spicuous crest. Its usual call is a whistled eto, peto, 
peto, which it will utter for hours at atime. It has also 
a de-de-de-de call, suggesting the Chickadee’s well-known 
notes, but louder and more nasal. 
With no especial structure other than slightly enlarged — 
toe nails, the Nuthatches still differ markedly from other 
White-breasted birds in the ease with which they run 
Nuthatch, UP or down tree trunks. The tail is 
Sitta carolinensis. short and square and is not used in 
Plate LXXI. climbing. The bill is rather slender, 
but proves an effective instrument in removing insects’ 
eggs and larvee from crevices in the bark and even in 
excavating a nesting hole in some decayed limb. Several 
species also use it to crack or “ hatch” nuts after they 
have wedged them in a convenient crevice. 
Of the three species of Nuthatches found in eastern 
North America the White-breasted is the most common 
and generally distributed, being a permanent resident from 
Florida to northern New England. Like many resident 
birds, it nests early, the five to eight eggs being depos- 
ited about April 20. They are white, thickly and 
evenly spotted and speckled with reddish brown and 
lavender. 
This Nuthatch’s usual call-note is a loud yank, 
yank, while its song is a singular, tenor hah-hah-hah- 
hah-hah. 
The Red-breasted Nuthatch is a more northern bird 
than its larger, white-breasted cousin. At sea level it 
nests from Maine northward, but in the higher parts of 
Tufted Titmouse, 
Parus bicolor. 
