344. LAND BIRDS 



728. RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH. — Sitta canadensis. 

 Family : The Nuthatches and Tits. 



Length: 4.12-4.75. 



Adult Male : Top of head black ; a white line over the eye and black 

 Hue through the eye ; upper parts bluish slate-color ; tail with white 

 patches on outer feathers ; under parts whitish, washed heavily with 

 bright red-brown. 



Adult Female : Entire upper parts bluish slate-color ; under parts paler 

 and duller than male. 



Young : Similar to female, but duller. 



Geographical Distribution : Mountains of North America, south in win- 

 ter to Southern United States. 



California Breeding Range : Breeds irregularly along the higher Sierra 

 Nevada in the middle and northern parts of the State. 



Breeding Season : May and June. 



Nest : In an old stub, usually within 6 feet of the ground ; lined with 

 shredded inner bark and vegetable fibre. 



Eggs : 4 to 8 ; grayish white, sparsely speckled with red-brown. Size 

 0.60 X 0.50. 



The Red-breasted Nuthatch is the same familiar slate- 

 gray bird in California that he is in the oak groves of 

 Illinois or the forests of Maine. In California he follows 

 the footsteps of spring up into the mountains, and makes 

 his nest in the natural cavities of dead trees, coming 

 down to milder levels when the snow flies. Yet he is a 

 hardy little fellow and loves the cold, and only the de- 

 crease of insect life induces him to seek a fatter larder 

 elsewhere. The nesting habits of this species are essen- 

 tially like those of the slender-billed nuthatch. 



