In the Woods. 



105 



with feathers, leaves, hair, and grasses. The eggs, from four to eight in 

 number, are white, marked all over with spots of reddish brown. They are 

 about seven tenths of an inch long, and more than half an inch in their other 

 diameter. 



. 



TUFTED TITMOUSE. 



The birds are found from Northern New Jersey and Southern Iowa 

 south to the Gulf States. They are resident and breed throughout their range. 



Eminently birds of the woods, they are gregarious, except in the nest- 

 ing season. They hunt in small parties, often associated with Kinglets, 

 Chickadees, and Nuthatches, and are among man's best friends, protecting 

 our forests by their constant warfare on destructive insects. 



Four kinds of Nuthatches are described by naturalists from the region 

 treated of. They are all birds of the woodland, though not infrequently 

 seen in the vicinity of houses. In habits and motions they resemble Wood- 

 peckers, to the casual observer, but closer study soon shows the investigator 

 that they possess attributes all their own. Climbing up the trunk of a tree 

 and hammering is truly like the Woodpeckers, but in a moment the Nuthatch 

 comes down the trunk head first, and presently proceeds to the tip of some 

 limb. This last action is so like that of a Chickadee or Kinglet, as to dispel 

 any idea of relationship to the carpenter of the woods. 



