BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 221 



white ; flanks and lower tail coverts rusty brown. Female and young similar, 

 though the black on head is indistinct, or sometimes absent. 



Hab. Southern British Provinces and eastern United States to the Rocky mount- 

 ains. 



The White-breasted Nuthatch, generally known in this locality by 

 the name of " Sap-sucker," is a common resident throughout the State. 

 During the summer this species inhabits trees in groves and forests, 

 but in winter it visits trees of orchards, yards and gardens in quest of 

 food. The name of u Sap-sucker," given to this bird and also to the 

 Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, is when so used a misnomer, as 

 neither the Nuthatch or either of the Woodpeckers ever feed on sap. 

 Nuthatches, like Woodpeckers, creep about the trunks and limbs of 

 trees searching for insects, or their eggs, and various larvae. A Nut- 

 hatch will descend the vertical trunks and limbs of trees head down- 

 ward ; a Woodpecker cannot do this. The Nuthatch deposits its eggs, 

 usually 5 or 6 in number, in a warm bed of feathers, hair and grasses 

 which are placed in holes of trees. The eggs are white, speckled with 

 reddish brown ; about .75 long by .55 wide. These birds, in addition to 

 feeding on various forms of insect-life, also eat nuts, acorns, Indian 

 corn, and various seeds, which they frequently stick into the crevices 

 of bark or in cracks of fence rails, and hammer away with their bills 

 until the nut or other food stuff is sufficiently broken that it may be 

 swallowed. 



SUBFAMILY PARING. TITMICE. 

 GENUS PARUS. LINN^US. 

 731. Parus bicolor. Lixx. 



Tufted Titmouse. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length about 6 ; extent about 10 inches; bill black; iris brown; legs lead color; 

 crown with a conspicuous crest ; upper parts ashy or leaden-gray ; forehead dull 

 sooty-black ; lower parts whitish ; sides and flanks rusty brown. In the young the 

 crest is shorter, the black of the forehead, also the rusty brown of the sides very in- 

 distinct. 



Hab. Eastern United States to the plains, but rare towards the northern border, 

 being a straggler merely to southern New England. 



Common resident, generally found in forests, yet it often, especially 

 in winter, comes around dwellings. May easily be recognized by its 

 loud whistling notes or its ordinary cry of dee, dee, dee. Although 

 this bird usually nests in holes of trees, in woods, it occasionally builds 

 in boxes about houses. The nest is composed of feathers, dried 

 grasses, leaves, etc. The eggs, about | of an inch long and a little 

 more than -J- wide, usually 5 or 6 in number, are white, speckled with 

 reddish-brown and lilac. The Tufted Titmouse feeds on various forms 

 of insect life, also seeds of various weeds and grasses, and at times he 

 subsists on small herries. 



