6o 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. iS-No. 4 



Nesting of the Red-breasted 

 Nuthatch. 



Of all the birds that enliven the woods, 

 there is probably no family, with the excep- 

 tion of the Warblers, more interesting to me 

 than the Nuthatches. Although possessing 

 neither the beautiful songs nor briUiant plu- 

 mages of many of our woodland birds, they 

 yet make up the deficiency in this respect 

 by their great industry and evident cheer- 

 fulness under all conditions. 



The species are few in number, yet the 

 family is so widely distributed that there is 

 probably hardly a locality that cannot count 

 at least one species among its fauna. 



It was my good fortvme to spend a part 

 of the summer of 1890 in the town of Ossi- 

 pee, beautifully situated among the hills of 

 east central New Hampshire, a few miles 

 east of the far-famed Winnepesaukee, so 

 aptly named by the Indians " The Smile of 

 the Great Spirit." There, in the forests of 

 pine, spruce, and hemlock, the Red-breasted 

 or Canada Nuthatch {Sitta canadensis) is 

 a resident and a common breeder, and a 

 good opportunity was afforded me to observe 

 its nesting habits. 



Five nests were found in situations rang- 

 ing from ten to thirty-three feet from the 

 ground. The first evidences of their breed- 

 ing were noticed late in April, when 1 dis- 

 covered a pair of birds engaged in excavat- 

 ing a nest. This was at the greatest elevadon 

 of any found, and was situated near the top 

 of a dead basswood stub, fortunately acces- 

 sible by means of several smaller adjacent 

 trees. The entrance was circular and none 

 too large to admit the birds. The pair 

 worked alternately, as is usually the case with 

 birds that excavate a nest. When one had 

 been working ten or fifteen minutes it would 

 appear at the entrance and utter its notes, 

 like the syllables cheaap, cheaap, cheaap, 

 when immediately its mate would appear 

 and take its turn at the work. 



I watched them from time to time, and on 



the 17th of May took the nest, containing 

 seven fresh eggs. The cavity was about 

 twelve inches deep and was excavated with 

 considerable skill. 



Other nests containing eggs were found 

 on the 2 2d, 28th, and 31st of May. They 

 were all similar in construction to the first 

 found, being rather slightly made of the fine 

 inner bark of some tree, probably the bass- 

 wood. In some of the nests a few feathers 

 were intermixed with the other material. 

 The eggs, which ranged from five to seven 

 in number, were similar in size and color to 

 those of the Black-capped Chickadees, but 

 were more pointed than is usually the case 

 with the eggs of that bird. 



In this connection it may be well to men- 

 tion the discovery of a nest of these species 

 in eastern Massachusetts. It was found on 

 the 8th of June, 1887, near my home in 

 Wilmington. It was in a pine stub near a 

 dwelling; was composed of cottony sub- 

 stances evidently picked up near the house, 

 and contained at this date young about half- 

 grown. The birds had been very abundant 

 during the preceding winter, and many had 

 lingered until late in April, but these were 

 the only birds that I observed during the 

 summer. Edward A. Preble. 



Dep't Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 



O.&O.V0I.I8, April. 1803 p. 60 



