1905 | THE RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH 141 
“young are nude little creatures, having a very faint trace of down 
upon the feather tracts. At the end of a week the feathers are 
quite well grown, and the superciliary stripe begins to show. 
After the tenth day one of the young may often be seen looking 
out of the nest, but at the Jeast disturbance retreats to lowet 
quarters. At the age of two weeks the young leave the nest, and 
are led to pastures new ; for suitable insects for their diet have 
been well garnered near home, and they must move to where 
their food is more plentiful. 
Some months are devoted to the education of the young birds, 
-_ who are shown where to look for food. It is interesting indeed 
to follow a family of these feathered mites, observe their move- 
ments and listen to their talk when they all alight in the top of 
some spruce or fir tree, and with much twittering search among 
the cones and twigs. Soon all are off to another tree, and the 
searching and jeering go on; many insects, caterpillars and eggs 
of various insects are taken. No doubt, many small seeds are 
also eaten. Toward autumn arid throughout the winter the birds 
are often observed upon highways, searching among the excre- 
ments dropped by horses. One specimen in the writer’s collection 
was struck by the foot of a passing horse and killed. When night 
comes on, a roosting place is chosen among thick grown conifers. 
Thus the Red-breasted Nuthatches pass the time, and among 
their feathered companions are others of our hardy annual aves, 
such as the Black-capped and Hudsonian Chickadees, Golden- 
crowned Kinglet and Downy Woodpecker, the half-hardy Brown 
Creeper and semi-annual Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 
The adults of the Red-breasted Nuthatch measure from four 
and one-half to four and three quarters inches in length. Of this 
the tail takes one and one-half inches and the bill one-half inch. 
The upper parts are leaden blue, brightest in the adult male, who 
has a black crown, with a white stripe over the eye, and a black 
stripe through the eye. The under parts are of various shades of 
brownish, being lightest in young birds and richest in adult males. 
The wings are fuscous with pale ashy edgings ; the tail-feathers, 
except the middle pair, black, the lateral, marked with white. 
