The Whitts-bellied Nuthatch coscealing Food. — While col- 

 lecting in Waltham, in November, I observed a Sitta carolinensis feeding 

 on a small dead locust-tree. It finally went to the end of a broken limb and 

 took therefrom quite a large larva, -which it tucked into a crevice, bent the 

 bark upon it, gave a few light raps over the place, and then proceeded to 

 do the same with two more larvse.— W. B. QowsE, Boston, Masn. 



2^13:. N.Q.O. 4. Jan, 1879. P fe/. 



April 1888.] \ AKD OOLOGIST. 



chose was iu a mucKtiner condition than any 

 neighboring ones,.^ ntever heard of a Brown 

 Thrasher in su«rn a densAy populated locality. 



The White-breasted Nuthatch. 



Sitta carolinensis. 

 BV C. M. JONES, EASTPORD, CONN. 



The Nuthatch is so retiring in its liabits that 

 it fails to sei'in-e the attention to which its 

 character entitles it, for it has a character of 

 its own, and is really a very interesting bird. 

 Occasionally, either in summer or winter, it 

 makes us a short call, and runs nimbly up and 

 down the sliade trees about our dwellings, ut- 

 tering its unmusical but cheerful " hwank." 

 But it is really a bird of the woods, where it 

 roams at will in the highest tree tops or down 

 to a rotten or a decaying log, and rarely hops 

 along on the ground. The trunks and largei' 

 branches of the trees, however, are its principal 

 foraging grounds. At all times, it seems to be 

 burdened with the conviction that the chief end 

 of Nuthatchers is to work. It is seldom seen 

 at rest, though I remember, on one occasion, 

 watching one for a considerable time, as it 

 hung head downward, on the side of a tree, 

 apparently asleep. 



These birds commonly go in pairs the year 

 round, and probably remain paired for life. 

 When one is seen, it is quite certain that the 

 other is not far off, and by listening a few min- 

 ntes it may usually be discovered. Much of 

 the time they keep pretty near together, fre- 

 quently in the same tree, and when one leads 

 ofTto another place the other will soon follow. 

 While engaged in this work, they may fre- 

 quently be heard chattering in a low, conversa- 

 tional manner, apparently very edifying to 

 themselves but not intended for other ears, 

 since the notes can be heard at only a short 

 distance. But when the winter is over and 

 gone, and the milder weiithei* begins to loosen 

 the Ice King, the Nuthatches are quick to feel 

 the change. And though the winds may be 

 high and the atmosphere chilly, their loud 

 notes can l)e heard ringing through the woods, 

 often the only notes to be distinguished above 

 the roaring of the winds. 



In the latter part of April, household matters 

 begin to occupy much of their time. As to the 

 locality of their home they are not very partic- 

 ular. It is usually in the woods, sometimes in 

 more open land ; always in a cavity in a tree, 

 and almost invariably in a live tree, where a 



57 



dead limb has rotted out. Once I found the 

 bird nesting in a dead stub, in what looked 

 like an old woodpecker's nest, the only depar- 

 ture from the general rule that I have seen. 

 They are quite iudiflVrent as to attitude; any- 

 where from six to sixty feet, or even more, 

 from the ground. Sometimes the entrance is 

 barely large enough to admit the bird ; at 

 others, so large as to allow a person to insert 

 his hand. Some of their nesting sites are so 

 situated, the entrance being at the under side 

 of a limb or leaning ti ee, as to entirely protect 

 thein from storms; and yet the birds do not 

 seem to take this into consideration at all in se- 

 lecting a nesting place, for I have seen nests so 

 exposed that the rain could readily beat into 

 them, and 1 remember one in particular placed 

 down in the crotch of a tree in such a situation 

 that not only could it rain into the nest, but 

 more or less of the water running down the 

 two upright stems would fall into the cavity. 



The nest itself is a mass of fine material, 

 such as hair, rabbit's fur, and the inner bark 

 from dead trees, the whole forming a soft, but 

 rather inartistic bed for the young. In this are 

 deposited the eggs, from six to eight in num- 

 ber, seven being the more common. Different 

 clutches vary somewhat in size, owing doubt- 

 less to the age of the bird, and some are more 

 highly marked than others. Fresh, unblown 

 eggs have a beautiful pinkish tint which entire- 

 ly disappears when the contents are removed. 

 Usually in this latitude the eggs are deposited, 

 and incubation begins by the eighth of May, 

 but I have known a cold, backward season to 

 cause a delay of ten days. 



At the season of nest building, I have often 

 seen the birds busily engaged in picking oft" 

 small pieces of bark from trees and carrying 

 them into holes, as if they were engaged in 

 building a nest. At tirst I supposed they were 

 using tills material as a foundation, but in no 

 instance has this proved true, for I have in- 

 variably failed afterwards to find a nest or any 

 proper nesting material in these places. What 

 object they can have in such work I do not un- 

 derstand. 



Some years ago I witnessed a very odd per- 

 formance by one of these birds. It was in the 

 latter part of April. I was sitting down in a 

 piece of heavy timber and watching a pair of 

 Red-tailed Hawks which had a nest there, when 

 a Nuthatch flew into a very large chestnut tree 

 near by, and immediately ran into a small hole 

 about a dozen feet from the ground. I Iiad not 

 much more than time to wonder why she 

 had chosen that for a nesting place, when 



