WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 301 



at them for a considerable time. The same spot is usually resorted to 

 by the Nuthatch as soon as it has proved to be a good and convenient 

 one. A great object seems to be to procure the larvae entombed in the 

 kernels of the hard fruits, insects being at all times the favourite food of 

 these birds. They are fond of roosting in their own nest, to which I 

 believe many return year after year, simply cleaning or deepening it for 

 the purpose of depositing their eggs in greater security. Like others of 

 the tribe, they hang head-downwards to sleep, especially in a state of cap- 

 tivity. 



The young obtain their full plumage during winter. The only dif- 

 ferences between the male and the female are, a slight inferiority of the 

 latter as to size, and a somewhat less depth of colouring. Like the other 

 two species, they now and then alight on a top branch for an instant, in 

 the manner used by other birds. 



SiTTA CAEOLiNENSis, Linn. Sjst. Nat. voL i. p. 177 — Lath. Index Omith. vol. i. 



p. 262 Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 96. 



Whitz-breasted Ameeican Nuthatch, Sitta caeolinensis, Wils. Amer. Or- 



nith. vol. 1. p. 10. pi. 2. fig. 3 — Nuttall, Manual, voL i. p. 581. 



Adult Male. Plate CLIL Fig. 1. 



Bill straight, of the length of the head, very hard, conico-subidate, a 

 little compressed, acute ; upper mandible with the dorsal outline very 

 slightly arched, the edges sharp towards the point ; lower mandible 

 smaller, of equal length, straight. Nostrils basal, round, half-closed by a 

 membrane, partially covered by the frontal feathers. The general form 

 is short and compact. Feet rather strong, the hind toe stout, and as long 

 as the middle toe, with a strong hooked claw ; the claws arched, com- 

 pressed, acute. 



Plumage soft, blended, with little gloss, excepting on the head. Wings 

 rather short, broad, the second primary longest. Tail short, broad, even, 

 of twelve rounded feathers. 



Bill black, pale blue at the base of the lower mandible. Iris dark 

 brown. Feet brown. The upper part of the head and the hind neck 

 deep black, glossed with blue, that colour curving down on either side of 

 the neck at its base. The back, wing, and tail-coverts, and middle feathers 

 of the tail, light greyish-blue. Quills black, edged with bluish-grey ; three 



