SLENDEB-BILLED NUTHATCH 567 



The voices of the three species of nuthatches are distinct. The call 

 of the Slender-billed Nuthatch is a rather loud hank or qudnk, repeated 

 at varying intervals. This call possesses somewhat of a nasal intonation but 

 not so much of that quality as there is in the call of the Red-breasted Nut- 

 hatch, The Slender-billed never utters any high-pitched, clear, 'chatter- 

 ing' notes such as are given by the Pigmy Nuthatch. In the spring the 

 Slender-billed Nuthatch gives a song which is a mere monotonous repetition 

 of a certain two-syllabled word: cher-iver, cher-wer, cher-wer, etc. 



The Slender-billed Nuthatch, at least in the Yosemite section, ordinarily 

 makes use of abandoned woodpecker holes for nesting sites. In some 

 other regions the birds are reported to dig out their own nest holes, but 

 here they seemingly find sufficient accommodation in the numerous holes 

 left by woodpeckers. Two instances of nesting were recorded at Tamarack 

 Flat on May 25, 1919, and a third near Pleasant Valley on May 23, 1915. 

 The first of the Tamarack Flat nests was 9 feet above the ground in an 

 old hole of the White-headed Woodpecker in a broken off and barkless 

 Jeffrey pine stump. The male bird was seen to enter with a bill full of 

 insects and there ensued at once from the opening a series of low con- 

 versational notes. The contents of this nest were not ascertained. The 

 second nest, also in an abandoned White-head's hole, was 7 feet (2130 

 millimeters) from the ground, measuring to the top of the hole. The 

 entrance was as made by the woodpeckers (1% inches or 43 millimeters 

 in diameter), but the interior had evidently been enlarged, by the nut- 

 hatches themselves, to a diameter of over 5 inches (130 mm.) and was 

 filled to within 7i/^ inches (190 mm.) of the top, with deer and cliip- 

 munk hair and feathers from various birds. There were seven slightly 

 incubated eggs. The male kept uttering a special alarm call, yek-yek-yek- 

 ek-ek-ek, and circulated about the vicinity anxiously. 



The female was on the nest and as she refused to leave even during 

 the hubbub incident to enlarging the entrance, the observer had to lift 

 her from the nest in order to examine the eggs. She seemed to be in a 

 sort of lethargj^ and did not struggle until actually taken in hand. That 

 the bird had not left the nest for some time was evident from the quantitj- 

 of excrement which was accumulated in the cloaca. The condition of 

 this female, the food supply which the male of the first nest had been seen 

 to take to his nest, and the further fact that only males had been noted 

 abroad for some days previouslj^ led to the belief that in this species the 

 female alone carries on the duties of incubation and that she remains 

 upon the nest continuously for a greater or less period of time, during 

 which she is fed by the male. In the case of the third nest, mentioned 

 beyond as being seen in the foothill country, and which contained young, 

 both of the parent birds were abroad, engaged in gathering food for the 



