THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 303 



Tin- Creeper appears to be more like a mouse than a bird, as he 

 goes slowly up the tree trunks by short jumps, clinging close to the 

 bark and examining every crack for insects that may be lurking there. 

 Upon reaching the upper part of the tree, he dives down to the root 

 of the next one, and starting often only a few inches from the ground, 

 again begins the ascent. 



II is only note, while with us, consists of several thin wiry "seeps." 

 His food is wholly insectivorous. Mr. P. B. Philipp has taken 

 nests in the Tamarack Swamp, at Newton, Sussex county, in May and 

 June, 1906, 1907 and 1908, and regards the species as a rare but regu- 

 lar breeder in that locality. 



Family SITTID.35. 



THE NUTHATCHES. 



Small birds allied to the Titmice, but peculiar in their climbing 

 habits, usually progressing downwards along the trunks of trees in- 

 stead of upwards like the Woodpeckers. 



o. Top of head black or gray. 



6. Wing. 3.50 or over. WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH, p. 303 



66. Wing less than 3. RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, p. 304 



aa. Top of head brownish. BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH, p. 305 



727 Sitta carol inensis Latham. 



White-breasted Nuthatch. 

 PLATE 79. 



Adult male. Length, 5.25-6. Wing, 3.60. Above, bluish-gray.; whole top 

 of head and nape, glossy black ; below, including sides of face and neck, grayish- 

 white ; thighs and part of under tail-coverts, chestnut ; wing feathers blackish, 

 edged and tipped with blue-gray or white, innermost ones blue-gray with oval 

 black spots and white tips ; greater-coverts with white tips forming a bar ; 

 middle pair of tail feathers, blue-gray ; others, black, varied with white, form- 

 ing a diagonal band across each half of the tail when spread. 



Adult female. Similar, but black of head veiled with blue-gray, seldom show- 

 ing distinctly except on the nape. 



Young in first summer. Duller, with feathers of tne upper surface edged 

 with dusky. 



Rest in a hole in a tree, composed of leaves, feathers, etc. ; eggs, five to eight, 

 white, speckled with rusty and pale purple, .80 x .60. 



