The White-breasted Nuthatches 
In this case the husband and father, usually so devoted, did not put in 
an appearance; and the entire care of this lusty brood devolved, for the 
time being at least, upon the tired mother. Her intervals of feeding were 
very irregular—whether due altogether to the fortunes of the chase or an 
occasional effort to “smoke me out,” I could not tell. Once she was gone 
fifteen minutes, and again a half hour. She did tire us out this time, and I 
believe she was tricking us, for she returned promptly, upon our with¬ 
drawal, from some unseen vantage point. 
Trickery is quite within the bird’s range of intelligence. Mr. Frank 
C. Willard tells of a clever pair which did him out of a coveted set of eggs: 1 
“May 18, 1910. I heard a pair of these birds talking to each other, and 
began to trail them. One soon secured some bit of food and started up the 
steep mountainside, with me in hot pursuit. I soon lost sight of it, but 
discovered the mate close by with some grass or bark or something of that 
character in its beak. It dived into a cavity of a small oak, and shortly 
reappeared without its nesting material. After a few minutes calling it 
was joined by the other one of the pair, and both were soon busy carrying 
nesting material into the oak. I quietly withdrew to return ten days 
later. There were no birds about so I examined the cavity, and was cha- 
grinned to find only the few bits of grass and fur I had seen them carry in. 
Some time later I found the real nest with its family of large young in an 
oak some distance further up the mountainside.” 
The Slender-billed Nuthatch does not, with minor local exceptions, 
appear to be a common bird anywhere in its range. Certainly it is not 
one-fourth as abundant as is carolinensis in the East. “Rare but regular,” 
would probably best characterize its appearance at lower levels. Not 
being harrassed by the rigors of winter, it has not shown that disposition 
to make friends (at the price of a bit of suet) which is making the eastern 
bird famous. It does, however, fall back somewhat before the Sierran 
snows; and it invades in winter certain lowland sections, which are 
promptly deserted in early spring. Even so, it enjoys a most extra¬ 
ordinary breeding range, from sea level (irregularly) up to the limit of 
trees in the Sierra Nevada. 
No. 128 b Inyo Slender-billed Nuthatch 
A. O. U. No. 72yd, part. Sitta carolinensis tenuissima Grinnell. 
Description. —“Similar to 5 . c. aculeata from west-central California, but bill 
much longer and slenderer, size larger, back of a darker tone of gray, and flanks paler; 
similar to 5 . c. nelsoni from southern Arizona, but bill much slenderer, and sides, and 
lower surface generally, whiter.” Av. of 7 males: wing 89.5 (3.52); tail 49 (1.93); 
length of bill 20.5 (.81). Depth at base 3.8 (.15). 
1 Condor, Vol. XIV., 1912, p. 214. The incident refers to 5 . c. nelsoni , a scarcely distinguishable form. 
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