194 BIRD PARADISE 



that as it may, there he is, wrestling with the 

 owl problems of life, and it may be, solving 

 more of them than we think. I have thought 

 sometimes that if there was some way by which 

 I could record the fellow's adventures as he goes 

 about in the dark it would be a book well worth 

 perusing. I judge from the little I know of his 

 life during the winter that there are days when 

 he has no knowledge of anything that he 

 could term his daily bread. Possibly when the 

 snow is deep and the cupboard bare he may 

 journey southward, but if he does we have no 

 knowledge of it. Some day we may know him 

 better. 



One of our most interesting small birds bears 

 the name of nuthatch. There are two species — 

 the white and the red-breasted. Six inches will 

 fully measure the length of the bird, but his ac- 

 tivity is so great that I sometimes think him 

 much longer. The white-breasted species is the 

 most common and can be easily distinguished by 

 the color of its plumage and by its peculiar call. 

 The back is a lightish blue, and the breast white. 

 The song is an incessant repeating of the sound 

 ' ' gnank. ' ' The range of the little fellow is over 

 most of North America. He knows nothing of 



