138 



THE CANADIAN SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 



eight or ten inches (]eep; this excavation, I 

 have no doubt, was the work of the birds 

 themselves. In the bottom was a small quan- 

 tity of fibrous, wcody matter. This nest was 

 altogether different to any of the Nuthatches 

 that I have seen, and it struck me at the time 

 as very peculiar. I also noted that the birds 

 were darker in color, and their notes consider- 

 ably different to those commonly observed in 

 the high, hardwood lands, but until years 

 afterwards, when I procured a copy of " Ross' 

 Birds of Canada," I was not aware that the 

 Red and White-bellied birds, were distinct 

 species. Since then I have observed that the 

 habitat of Sitla Canadensis is generally the 

 deep evergreen woods, and lately, I note, that 

 its call is louder, more prolonged and plaintive 

 than that of its white-bellied congener, which 

 latter is partial to the hardwood regions, and 

 always makes its large nest (formed of moss, 

 fibrous bark and hair) in the natural hollows 

 of trees. Years ago I had observed some of 

 these birds excavating cavities in old stubs, 

 generally softwood timber, and that in the fall 

 of the year, they laid up a supply of different 

 kind of seeds in such place ; I am now disposed 

 to believe that this was particularly the work 

 of the Red-bellied species. 



W. L. Kells, Listowel, Ont. 



SUPPOSED NESTS 0¥ THE CROSSBILL. 



On the 10th of April, when taking a ramble 

 for ornithological purposes, with my two boys, 

 in a cedar swamp, north of this town, I noticed 

 a number of nest-like structures, placed on 

 the branches of cedar and other evergreens, 

 generally about twelve to twenty feet from the 

 ground. I had often, in different places, noticed 

 similar structures before, always in the early 

 spring, and knowing that these had been made 

 in the winter, supposed tliat they were the 

 work of some squirrel. On the above date, 

 however, curiosity led me to examine several 

 of these structures more closelv, and to my 

 surprise, I found that they were the nests of 

 some birds, and had evidently been recently 

 occupied. Compared with the size of the bird 

 that must have built and occupied these hut- 

 like formations, they were large. One which 

 I brought home, measured two feet six inches 

 in circumference ; yet the inside cavity was 

 only about four inches in diameter, and the 

 entrance showed that the body of the builder 

 was about the size of that of the pine finch. 

 The outsides of these nests were formed of moss 

 calculated to keep out cold, and throw off the 



rain, while the inside was thickly lined with 

 the soft fibrous dry cedar bark, and in some 

 cases, small quantities of hair. The materials 

 of the entrance were of such quality and 

 arrangement as to almost close when the 

 occupant went in or out, and it would appear 

 also that it was the intention of the owners to 

 cover the contents when they found it neces- 

 sary to leave it for the purpose of procuring 

 food. For a while I was puzzled to know 

 what species of the feathered race had made 

 these nests, and therein reared their young in 

 the midst of our cold and stormy winters. I 

 then recollected and re-read the article in the 

 last February number by Dr. Gamier, on the 

 Crossbills, the mystery was solved. These 

 moss-made hut-shaped structures were the 

 nests of Lnxia curvirostra. I then recollected 

 that in the winter of 18f>(),and following years, 

 I had observed these birds in flocks in the 

 barn-yard and among the evergreen woods of 

 North Wallace, where also I first noticed those 

 curious nests, but never thought they were 

 the habitations of birds, or that any bird could 

 rear their young at such a season of the year 

 in our climate. Latety a neighbour informed 

 me that he saw the nest of a bird with four 

 young in the month of March, but could give 

 no information as to the species or formation 

 of the nest. It was, of course, a crossbill. 

 I did not see any of these birds this season, 

 they had evidently departed northward before 

 my advent among their winter homes. I hope 

 another season to see their eggs. 



W. L. Kells, Listowel, Ont. 



Sitla Canadensis. When I first discovered 

 the nest of this bird, both male and female 

 were bus}' gathering soft- material to complete 

 their nest ; the spot selected for this purpose 

 being a hole in a dead tree, about ten feet 

 from the ground ; the hole, however, was not 

 the work of these birds, but one which had 

 probably been made by a squirrel or wood- 

 pecker some seasons previous, the cavity 

 being about fourteen inches deep. Sitta Caro- 

 linensis. As the northern limit of this Nut- 

 hatch, as a winter resident, is somewhat 

 indefinite, I might mention the fact that one 

 was taken at Westfield March 10th, 1882. 



Harold Gilbert. 



St. John, N.B., April 23, 1882. 



Dear Sir, — In answer to your query in 

 the March number of the Sportsman and 

 Naturalist, concerning the nesting of Antros- 





