NUTII.VIVIIKS AND TITS. 



B. Throat not black. 

 a. Under parts more or ! washed with rufou*; a black or gray atreak 



through Uio eye 7JS. UED-BREASTED NITIIAT< u. 



A. ( n.l. T purt* white or whituh ; under taii-covcru more or leas rufous ; tail 

 with wlutc pota. 



737. WIIITE-BREATEI> XiTiiATi ii. 72TA. FLORIDA Ni THAT H 

 e. Under parts white r w hitih ; flanks with ruf<>u ; no white in the tail ; 



he*l crested 731. TITTEH Tmi 



d. Whole top of the head brown .... 729. BROWN-HEADED Nirni M< n 



727. Sitta cavrolinensi* I.-ith. WIIITK-BRICATH> Nim M-H. Ad. 

 6. To|Mf tbo head and front part of tlio back shining black; rest of the 

 uppT part* bluish irniy ; inner Hccoiularie* bluish ^ray, marked with black; 

 vert* and quilla tipped with whitish; outer tail-feathera black, with 

 white patches near their tips ; middle ones bluish gray ; ndtt of the htad and 

 uiuler part* white; lower belly and under tail-coverta mixed with rufous. 

 Ad. 9 .Similar, but the black of the head and back veiled by bluish gray. 

 J,., 6-07 ; W., 3-48 ; T., 1-92; B., -78. 



Rangt. Eastern North America; breeds from the Gulf States to Minne- 

 sota and New Brunswick ; generally resident throughout its range. 



ii, ..>niiiion T. V. un<l \V. V., less common S. K. Sing Sing, 

 1*. K. ('anitirid^c, I'. H.. rare in summer, uncommon in winter, com- 

 mon in migrations; mont numerous in Oct. nnd NOV. 



A'ett, of feather*, leaves, etc., in a hole in a tree or stump. Kyyt, five to 

 .i/ht, \shiie or i-reumy white, thickly and rather evenly spotted and speckled 

 with rufoiu and lavender, *75 x -57. 



When the cares of a family devolve upon him, the Nuthatch 

 eschews all society and rarely ventures far from his forest home. Hut 

 in the winter I believe even the birds are affected by the oppressive 

 loneliness; the strangers of summer become for a time boon compan- 

 :id we find Downy Woodpeckers, Chickadees, and Nuthutrhrs 

 wandering about the woods or visiting the orchards on apparently the 

 best of terms. 



Few birds are easier to identify: the Woodpecker pecks, the 

 Chickadee calls '</</ . iiilo the Nuthatch, running up and 



down the tree trunks, assumes attitudes no bird outside his family 

 would think of attempting. His [>owers of speech are in no wise 

 disturlx-il hy his often inverted position, and he accompanies his 

 erratic clamlx-rings by a conversational twitter or occasionally a loud, 

 nasal yank, ynnk, which frequently tells us of his presence before we 

 see him. 



s not too absorbed in his business to have a mild interest in 

 v<>iirs nnd he may pause a moment t<> look you over in a calm kind of 

 way, which somehow makes one feel that prrlmps, after all, Nuthatches 

 are f us much importance as we. Hut his curiosity is soon satisfied; 

 affairs are evidently pressing, and with a yank, yank, he resumes bis 



