WHITE-BREASTED, BLACK-CAPPED NUTHATCH. 39 



instantly to alarm her. When both are feeding on the trunk 

 of the same tree, or of adjoining ones, he is perpetually calling 

 on her; and, from the momentary pause he makes, it is plain 

 that he feels pleased to hear her reply. 



The white-breasted nuthatch is common almost everywhere 

 in the woods of North America, aud may be known, at a dis- 

 tance, by the notes, quanh, quanh, frequently repeated, as he 

 moves, upward and down, in spiral circles, around the body 

 and larger branches of the tree, probing behind the thin scaly 

 bark of the white oak, and shelling off considerable pieces of 

 it, in search after spiders, ants, insects, and their larvae. He 

 rests and roosts with his head downwards, and appears to 

 possess a degree of curiosity not common to many birds ; fre- 

 quently descending, very silently, within a few feet of the root 

 of the tree where you happen to stand, stopping, head down- 

 ward, stretching out his neck in a horizontal position, as if to 

 reconnoitre your appearance ; and, after several minutes of 

 silent observation, wheeling round, he again mounts, with 

 fresh activity, piping his unisons as before. Strongly attached 

 to his native forests, he seldom forsakes them ; and, amidst 

 the rigours of the severest winter weather, his note is still 

 heard in the bleak and leafless woods, and among the howling 

 branches. Sometimes the rain, freezing as it falls, encloses 

 every twig, and even the trunk of the tree, in a hard trans- 

 parent coat or shell of ice. On these occasions I have observed 

 his anxiety and dissatisfaction at being with difficulty able 

 to make his way along the smooth surface ; at these times 

 generally abandoning the trees, gleaning about the stables, 

 around the house, mixing among the fowls, entering the barn, 

 and examining the beams and rafters, and every place where 

 he may pick up a subsistence. 



The name nuthatch has been bestowed on this family of 

 birds from their supposed practice of breaking nuts by re- 

 peated hatchings, or hammerings with their bills. Soft-shelled 

 nuts, such as chestnuts, chinkopins, and hazel nuts, they may, 

 probably, be able to demolish, though I have never yet seen 



