Bird Study 



63 



THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH 



Teacher's Story 



"The busy nuthatch climbs his tree 

 Around the great bole spirally. 

 Peeping into wrinkles gray, 

 Under ruffled lichens gay. 

 Lazily piping one sharp note 

 From his silver maiUd throat." 



— Maurice Thompson. 



LIHTE and mellow is the ringing "ank, ank" note of the 

 nuthatch, and why need we allude to its nasal timbre! 

 While it is not a strictly musical note, it has a most enticing 

 quality and translates into sound the picture of bare- 

 branched trees and the feeling of enchantment which 

 permeates the forest in winter; it is one of the most 

 "woodsy" notes in the bird repertoire. And while the singer 

 of this note is not so bewitching as his constant chum 

 the chickadee, yet it has many interesting ways quite its 

 own. Nor is this "ank, ank," its only note. I have often 

 heard a pair talking to each other in sweet confidential syllables, "wit, 

 wit, wit" very different from the loud note meant for the world at large. 

 The nuthatches and chickadees hunt together all winter; it is no mere 

 business partnership but a matter of congenial tastes. The chickadees 

 hunt over the twigs and smaller branches, while the nuthatches usually 

 prefer the tree trunks and the bases of the branches; both birds hke 

 the looks of the world upside down, and while the chickadee hangs 

 head down from a twig, the nuthatch is quite likely to alight head down 

 on a tree bole, holding itself safely in this position by thrusting its toes 

 out at right angles to the body, thus getting a firm hold upon the bark. 

 Sometimes its foot will be twisted completely around, the front toes 

 pointed up the tree. The foot is well adapted for clinging to the bark as 

 the front toes are strong and the hind toe is very long and is armed with 

 a strong claw. Thus equipped, this bird runs about on the tree so 

 rapidly, it has earned the name of "tree mouse". It often ascends a 

 tree trunk spirally but is not so hidebound in this habit as is the brown 

 creeper. It runs up or down freely head first and never flops down 

 backwards Hke a woodpecker. 



In color the nuthatch is bluish gray above with white throat and 

 breast and reddish underparts. The sides of the head are white; the 

 black cap extends back upon the neck but is not "pulled down" to the 

 eyes like the chickadees. The wing feathers are dark brown edged 

 with pale gray. The upper middle tail feathers are bluish like the back; 

 the others are dark brown and tipped with white in such a manner 

 that the tail when spread shows a broad white border on both sides. 

 The most striking contrast between the chickadee and nuthatch in 

 markings is that the latter lacks the black bib. However, its entire shape 

 is very different from that of the chickadee and its beak is long 

 and slender, being as long or longer than its head, while the beak of 

 the chickadee is a short, sharp, little pick. The bill of the nuthatch is 

 exactly fitted to reach in crevices of the bark and pull out hidmg 

 insects, or to hammer open the shell of nut or acorn and get both the 



