e object in 

 a pause, he 

 tree trunk, 

 might sup- 

 V but like a 

 st tree and 



ithout stop- 

 lotes, which 

 \s for song, 

 rewster,* in 

 home, amid 

 tender song 

 rcr and less 

 falling, but 

 soft sigh of 



S. 



Siftina>, or 

 ;ed through- 

 lout twenty 

 ican. They 

 ?pers, climb 



a support. 



(with our 

 ?n hatching 



es, of which 

 species, be- 

 ekadees are 



.nigration 

 )ably of (he 



lin certain 



Chickadee. 

 'tly whitish ; 



("lIK'KADEE. 



wiiii; uiuUt 



(."|II<"KAI)EE. 



NUTHATCH KS AND TITS. 



3S7 



£. Throat not bhick. 



a. Under parts more or less wiuslnd with rufous; ii l)iaek or gray streak 

 throu^'li tlie eye 7-S. Ked-uueastem Nituak ii. 



b. UiuliT parts white or whitisli ; under tuil-eoverts more or less rut'uus; tail 

 witli wliite spots. 



727. WlllTE-ISKEASTEI) NlTIIATCII. 7276. Fl.OKIDA Nl TU.VTCU. 



c. Uiuler jiarts wliite or whitlsli ; Hanks witli rufous; ii>> wliite in tlie tail; 

 headerested 7-">l. Tiftei) Tit.molse. 



d. Whole top of the head brown .... 72',i. Ukown-iieaueu Nuthatch. 



727* Sitta carolinensis /.nth. White-bueastei) Nitiiatcii. .((/. 

 <S . — Top of the liead and front part of tiie haek siiiniiiij bluek ; rest of the 

 upper part.s bluisli gray; inner secondaries bluisli ^n-ay, marked with hlaek ; 

 wing-coverts and quills ti]>ped with whitish ; outer tail-feaUiers blaek, witli 

 wliite patciies near their tips ; nruldlo ones bluish gray ; mides of the haul and 

 un<.ler parts white; lower belly and under tail-eoverts luixeil witli rufous. 

 Ail. 9. — Similar, but the blaek of the head and back veiled by bluish gray. 

 L., G-07 ; W., 3-48; T., 1-<I2; Ji., •7<). 



Itaitge. — Eastern North Ameriea; breeds from the (lulf States to Mitine- 

 BOta and New Brunswick ; generally resident througiiout its range. 



Washington, common T. V. and W. V., less eoiiinion S. R. Sing Sing, 

 common P. Iv. Cami)ridgo, P. R.. rare in summer, uneonimon in winter, com- 

 mon in migrations; most numerous in (Jet. ami Nov. 



Ked.1 of feathers, leaves, etc., in i'. hole in a tree or stump. AV/f/.s', five to 

 eight, white or creamy wliite, thickly and rather evenly spotted and speckled 

 with rufous and lavender, "70 x -07. 



When the cares of a family devolve upon him, the Nuthat'h 

 eschews all society and rarely ventures far from his forest home. Hut 

 in the winter I believe even the birds are affected by the oppressive 

 loneliness; the strangers of summer become for a time boon compan- 

 ions, and we find Downy VVood[)eckors, Chickadees, and Nuthatches 

 wandering about the woods or visiting the orchards on apparently the 

 best of terms. 



Few birds are ea.sier to identify: the Woodpecker jiecks, the 

 Chickadee calls "chickadee" while the Nuthatch, running up and 

 down the tree trunks, assumes attitudes no bird outside his family 

 would think of attempting. His powers of speech are in no wise 

 disturbed by his often inverted position, and he accom[)anies his 

 erratic clamberings by a conversational twitter or occasionally a loud, 

 nasal yank, yank, which fre(pienlly tells us of his presence before we 

 see him. 



He is not too absorbed in his business to have a mild interest in 

 yours, and he may pause a moment td look you over in a calm kind of 

 way, which .somehow nuikesone feel that pcrhajis, after all, Nuthatches 

 are of as much importance as wo. Hut his curiosity is soon satisfied ; 

 affairs are evidently pressing, and with a yatik, yank, he resumes his 







71 



