FAMILY Paridx. 



White- This active and sprightly little Nut- 



breasted hatch is one of our common winter birds; 



Nuthatch 



Sitta he is in frequent association with the 



carolinentit Chickadee and the Downy Woodpecker, 

 L. 6.00 Inches and one m%y look for him along with the 

 All the year companies of these birds which frequently 

 " turn up " suddenly and unexpectedly in the fall season 

 when most of the feathered tribe have long since flown 

 south. The White-breasted Nuthatch is a charming lit- 

 tle symphony in modest gray, black, and white. Over 

 his head extends a glossy black cap which reaches down 

 to the back; upper parts bluish gray, the wings a dusky 

 gray with the inner secondaries blue-gray marked with 

 black; wing-coverts tipped with dull white; middle tail 

 feathers gray, outer ones black with white patches near 

 their tips; sides of head and under parts white; the ex- 

 treme under parts and under tail-coverts washed with 

 faint Indian red. Female similarly marked, but the 

 black cap suffused with the bluish gray of the back. 

 Nest in a hole of a tree or stump, sometimes the deserted 

 quarters of a Woodpecker; the cavity is lined with grasses 

 and feathers. Egg cream white thickly and evenly 

 flecked with various browns. This bird is common 

 throughout eastern North America; it breeds from 

 Georgia north to Minnesota and New Brunswick, and 

 is generally resident throughout that range. The Red- 

 breasted Nuthatch is a much smaller bird, but 4.55 

 inches long, and is easily distinguished by the white 

 stripe which extends backward just above the eye, and 

 the sienna brown washing over the under parts. The 

 note of this Nuthatch is also different from that of the 

 other bird; it is characterized by a higher-pitched nasal 

 nyaa, nyaa delivered in slower tempo. 



The Nuthatches have no song ; their call-note is a 

 decided nasal monotone of an extremely low pitch com- 

 pared with the whistled notes of the other birds. The 

 White-breasted's yank, yank, yank, is, as nearly as I 

 can locate such a peculiar tone, somewhere near the first 

 A, or B, above middle C * on the piano keyboard, thus: 



* My diagram in the musical key shows the note of thi^ N .: 

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