ONTARIO. 



tion. About the end of April and beginning of May it be- 

 comes quite common in the woods, and is seen flitting like a 

 great moth from tree to tree, or winding its spiral way upward 

 on a trunk, uttering its simple note so descriptive of the motion, 

 creep, creep, creep. In summer a pair may be seen occasion- 

 ally in more favored spots, evidently nesting, but at that season 

 they are quite rare. Early in September they again become 

 numerous, in company with other migrants who are travelling 

 southward, and in the depth of winter I have occasionally seen 

 them mixed up with a small band composed of Chickadees, 

 Downy Woodpeckers, Nuthatches and Golden Crown Kinglets. 

 These birds seem to find pleasure in each other's society, when 

 they spend the short, sharp days of winter in some sheltered 

 patch of evergreens. 



FAMILY PARIDv^E. NUTHATCHES AND TITS. 

 SUBFAMILY SITTING. NUTHATCHES. 



GENUS SITTA LINN^US. 



289. SITTA CAROLINENSIS (LATH.). 727. 

 White-breasted Nuthatch. 



Back, rump and middle tail-feathers ashy-blue; crown and nape glossy 

 black, restricted or wanting in the young and many females; tail, except as 

 above, black, spotted with white; beneath and sides of head white; flanks and 

 under tail-coverts rusty-brown ; wings varied, black, blue and white. Length, 

 6; wing, 3^; tail, 2. 



HAB. Southern British Provinces and Eastern United States to the 

 Rocky Mountains. 



Nest, a hole in a tree, sometimes a natural cavity, or again dug by the 

 birds with great labor; lined with hair and feathers. 



Eggs, 4 to 6; white, spotted thickly with reddish-brown. 



This is one of the few birds which remain with us summer 

 and winter. It is quite a common species, well known to all 

 who have occasion to be in the woods in spring, when it is 

 seen climbing nimbly about, or hanging head downwards on the 

 bark of a tree. In the winter time the country lads who are 

 chopping in the bush, listen with pleasure to its familiar quank, 



291 



