Sltta canadensis . 



H'.Tiitefield, II. H. 



1S97. hovering in the air, and it was a pretty sight to watch the 

 Avig. 27. Nuthatch launch off from his perch and deftly snatch it up 



without ever a failure. If the insect v/as below him, he would 

 drop upon it on outspread wing, poising lilce a miniature hawK; 

 if above him, he would dart up, and for a second or tworemain 

 stationary with fluttering wings, lilce a huimning-blrd, -while 

 he siezed his prey. Once he struclc out after a large darning- 

 needle that looked nearly his own size, but he didn't get 

 nearer than an inch or two of it, v/hen he realized the enor- 

 mity of the undertaking, and very prudently abandoned the job. 



The Nuthatch seemed quite oblivious of my presence, and 

 sometimes in his flight for food he passed within three foet 

 of me, as he darted about, and then lit on a small branch some 

 five feet above the ground and but five or six foet from where 

 I was standing. Generally when on the wing he was silent, but 

 at times he uttered a very faint note several times repeated. 

 On his perch he rarely made a sound, tho-ogh t7;o or three times 

 he gave vent to his characteristic yna, zsa, yna . 



After alighting on the tree, the Nuthatch first proceeded 

 to devour the insect which he held in his bill. He assisted 

 the operation by pecking at the bark as if to arrange the po- 

 sition of the insect ere he swallowed it. Then he either sat 

 erect and motionless for a few secoxids, on the lookout for 

 more aerial food, or he ran about for a while on the branches 



