BULLETIN 



OF THE 



Michigan Ornithological Club 



PtJBLisHED Quarterly in the Intjbkests of Ornithology 



in the Great Lake Region. 



Vol. IV. DECEMBER, 1903. No. 4. 



NESTING OF THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 



EDWIN G. MUMMERY. 



(With photo by the author.) 

 The White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinciisis) is one of our most 

 common and fairly well known birds. Its acquaintance is best made in the 

 early springtime when it may be seen in more or less numbers in woods 

 where preferrably oak and elm trees of large growth are found. The natural 

 cavities selected by the birds in such trees for nesting purposes usually extend 

 straightly inward, often with a part turn, to a distance of fully ten inches. 

 As this is one of our earliest nesting birds — preparations commencing in early 

 April — the selecting of natural openings in sound live trees no doubt insures 

 protection to both eggs and young from the severe weather usually experienced 



NEST AND EGGS OF THE WHITE=BREASTED NUTHATCH. 



at that time of year. The lining of the nest also insures warmth to its occu- 

 pants, it being of the finest and softest grasses, strips of delicate bark lining, 

 and feathers apparently of the bird itself, and makes in its entirety a most 

 beautiful foundation for the eggs. I am of the opinion — after locating several 

 nesting trees of this bird — that it does not nest in the decayed trunks of trees 

 as has been stated. 



The Nuthatch is undoubtedly a bird of great industry, and therefore — 

 especially when in search of food — a tireless worker, exceedingly quick and 



