PEECHING BIRDS 



NUTHATCHES AND TITS. Family SITTID^ 



727. White-breasted Nuthatch. Sitta 

 Caroline >uis caroliiiensis. 



Range. — United States east of the Rockies, 

 breeding from tlie Gulf to southern Canada; 

 resident throughout its range. 



These birds are creepers, but unlike the last 



species, these run about on the trunks, either 



up or down; their tails are not pointed and 



^.. stiffened like those of the Brown 



Creepers, and their plumage is 



gray and black above with a 



black crown, and white below. 



They nest in holes in trees, 



usually deep in the woods and 

 \vhite at any elevation from the 



ground; they nearly always use deserted Wood- 

 peckers' holes but are said at times to exca- 

 vate their own, with great labor as their bills 

 are little adapted for that work. They line tnu 

 cavities with bark strips and hair or feathers, 

 and during April or May, lay from four to nine 

 v/hite eggs, profusely specked with reddisn 

 brown and lilac. Size ,80 x .60. Data. — Lancaster, Mass., May 16, 1902, Nest in 

 liole in an oak tree, 45 feet above ground; made of fine strips of bark fibre and 

 liair. 



White- breastPiJ Niithatrh 



Ti7:i- Slender-billed Nuthatch. Sitta carnliiiensis acnleata. 



Range. — North America, west of the Rockies and from Mexico to British Co- 

 lumbia. 



This species is as abundant in the west as the last is in the east, and nests in 

 like situations. The eggs cannot be distinguished from ,tliose of the eastern 

 birds. 



727b. Florida White-ereasted Nuthatch. Sitta carolinensis afkinsi. 



Range. — Florida and the South Atlantic coast to South Carolina. 



The liabits and eggs of these birds are like those of the nortliern ones. 



727c. Rocky Mountain Nuthatch. Sitta carolinensis nelsoni. 



Range. — Rocky Mountains from Mexico north to British Columbia. 

 Tlieir nesting habits or eggs are not distinctive in any respect. 



727tl. San I.acAs Nuthatch. Sitta carolinensis la<yun(F. 



Range. — Mountain ranges of Lower California. 



Said to be like iiciileiila but with the wings and tail slightly shorter. 



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