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THE BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH. 



SiTTA PUSILLJ, Lath. 



PLATE CXXV. Male and Female. 



Actively and most diligently employed is this little rover ever found 

 in our pine woodlands of the Southern Districts, where it resides all the 

 year, and beyond which it seldom extends, few being ever seen to the 

 eastward of Maryland. Those large tracts of sandy soil that occupy the 

 greater portion of the Floridas, Georgia, and the Carolinas, appear to 

 suit its habits best. It is rather rare in Louisiana, and none go so far 

 as Kentucky. It is the smallest species of Nuthatch as yet found in the 

 United States. Its notes are several octaves above those of the White- 

 bellied Nuthatch, more shrill, and at least one and a half above those of 

 its northern cousin, the Red-bellied. 



Although fond of pine-trees and pine-barrens, it does not confine itself 

 to these, but may not unfrequently be seen pursuing its avocations on 

 lower trees and on fences, mounting, descending, turning in every imagi- 

 nable position, and with a quickness of motion so much greater than that 

 of most other birds as to render it extremely difficult to shoot at. It 

 examines every hole and cranny of the bark of trees, as well as their 

 leaves and twigs, on which it finds abundance of food at all seasons. 

 During the breeding period they move in pairs, and are constantly chat- 

 tering. Their notes resemble the syllables deut, deut, dend, dend, and al- 

 though not musical are not disagreeable, particularly when heard in the 

 woods in which they usually reside, and where at that season a mournful 

 silence intimates the wildness of the place. 



When the young have left the nest they continue together, and move 

 from tree to tree with the activity of their parents, who join them when 

 the succeeding broods are able to find food for themselves. Towards 

 winter they associate with the smaller species of Woodpeckers, the Brown 

 Creeper, and the Southern Black-headed Tit. These birds pursue their 

 avocations with so much cheerfulness that the woods echo to their notes. 

 I have seen a congregation of these Nuthatches, amounting to fifty or 

 more, thus perambulating the Floridas in the months of November and 

 December. In those districts they pair in the beginning of February, 



