HOME BIRDS 35 



Red-Breasted Nuthatch 

 {Figs. 60, 61) 



White-breast is with us throughout the year and 

 belongs in the group of Permanent Residents. But 

 he has a cousin in the north who comes to us in the 

 fall and remains only until spring, and is therefore 

 classed among the Winter Visitants. 



About September first, if you think you hear some 

 one blowing a penny trumpet from a nearby pine or 

 spruce tree, you will probably find that it is a Red- 

 breast announcing his arrival from the north. He 

 does not come every year, and when he does appear 

 we cannot tell whether he will pass the winter with 

 us or continue his journey further south. Red- 

 breast is rather particular in his choice of food. He 

 is fond of the seeds of pine or spruce cones and 

 he is not likely to stay with us if he cannot find this 

 kind of fare. 



Probably when it is to be had in his summer 

 home in Canada and northern New England, he 

 does not travel far southward. Doubtless this is 

 the reason why Red-breast visits us in numbers some 

 years and is not seen at all, or but rarely, in others. 



Red-breast's call is not so loud as that of White- 

 breast, nor is it given in such a business-like way. 



