BIRDS OF NEW YORK 



497 



of 4 or 5, frequently associated with chickadees and creepers and Downy 

 woodpeckers. They mate early in the season and build their nest in some 

 hollow tree, rarely in the deserted nesting hole of the Downy woodpecker. 

 A]] those I have found, however, have been in hollow trees with the entrance 

 through a knothole, sometimes slightly enlarged by the nuthatches. The 

 nest is composed of leaves, mosses, soft grass and feathers. The eggs are 

 from 5 to 8 in number, pinkish white in ground color, rather finely speckled, 

 more heavily near the larger end. with reddish brown and grayish lavender. 



A brood of Nuthatches (one family) posed on stick 



They average .8 by .6 inches in dimensions. The young are usually out 



of the nest by the first or second week in June and are frequently seen 



seated in a row on some limb adjoining the nesting site for two or three 



days before they are able to creep successfully around the tree trunks as 



their parents do. The mortality among young nuthatches must be high 



as there seems to be almost no increase in their numbers in localities where 



they are protected year after year. Since the revival of interest in nature 



and bird study, many people feed the nuthatches in winter with bits of 



suet, nuts and seeds of the sunflower, which are placed on lunch counters 

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