April 
breasted is plain, the red-breasted is plainer. 
But that makes little difference to the naturalist ; 
he has conquered another world in finding a new 
species, and beauty is sometimes a superfluity. 
The nuthatches are peculiar fellows in that 
they have little fear, but a great deal of curi- 
osity. In avery pert and comical manner one 
will stretch out its neck, cock its head on one 
side, and coolly examine a person passing by. 
But the difference between impudent boldness 
and artless inquisitiveness is as easily distin- 
guishable in a bird as in a human being. 
This particular specimen seemed to show an 
unwonted degree of curiosity in watching me ; 
and doubtless, from a bird’s point of view, a 
person under an umbrella, looking through an 
opera-glass, zs a somewhat startling piece of 
mechanism that might well astonish a Canadian 
nuthatch. 
In habits, range, and note the two species 
closely resemble each other. The red-breasted 
is smaller, has a black stripe on the side of the 
face, and is ofa pale rusty color beneath ; whereas 
the other has a clear white face and is nearly 
white beneath. It is a strange habit of the 
nuthatches that they rest and even sleep cling- 
ing to the tree-trunk head downward. 
I2I 
