White-breasted Nuthatch 
25 
early autumn and whistle lustily about your 
home. 
WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH 
Called also: Tree Mouse; Devil Downhead 
When it comes to acrobatic performances in 
the trees, neither the chickadee nor the tit- 
mouse can rival their relatives, the little bluish 
gray nuthatches. Indeed, any circus might 
be glad to secure their expert services. Hang- 
ing fearlessly from the topmost branches of the 
tallest pine, running along the under side of 
horizontal limbs as comfortably as along the 
top of them, or descending the trunk head fore- 
most, these wonderful little gymnasts keep their 
nerves as cool as the thermometer in January. 
From the way they travel over any part of the 
tree they wish, from top and tip to the bottom 
of it, no wonder they are sometimes called Tree 
Mice. Only the fly that walks across the 
ceiling, however, can compete with them in 
clinging to the under side of boughs. 
Why don’t they fall off? If you ever have a 
chance, examine their claws. These, you will 
see, are very much curved and have sharp little 
hooks that catch in any crack or rough place in 
the bark and easily support the bird’s weight. 
As a general rule the chickadee keeps to the 
