340 
eggs. The skill with which this bird can cling to smooth surfaces is remark- 
able. The writer once saw a Brown Creeper climb the polished corner of 
a black walnut bookcase with as little concern as if it had been the 
roughest-barked oak in the woods. 
Economic Status. The Brown Creeper is purely insect-eating in its 
habits and its constant microscopic attention to every little crevice in 
the rough bark must account for innumerable insect pests. Most of 
its work is done in the woods, but as the bird frequently appears in the 
orchard and on shade and ornamental trees about the town and house 
the species has a powerfully beneficial influence. 
FAMILY — SITTIDAE. NUTHATCHES 
The Nuthatches are small, woodpecker-like birds in general habit, 
but their toes are of the usual Passerine type with three toes in front and 
one behind instead of the characteristic two and two of the Woodpeckers. 
The bills are somewhat like those of the Woodpecker in outline, but without 
their chisel-shaped point and are set on a slightly up-tilted angle with the 
head, giving a turned-up or retrouss4 appearance (Figure 312, compare 
with Figure 241, page 226). The colours of our species are characteristic. 
The name Nuthatch is derived from their habit of wedging nuts and other 
itard food into crevices and “hatching” or hacking them until an entrance 
as made. Though capable of considerable excavating in wood or bark 
They do not use their powers to delve deeply into trees, but as a rule content 
Themselves with flaking off the loose bark scales and searching the open 
^cavities and seams. 
727. Carolina Nuthatch (Including Slender-Billed Nuthatch), white-breasted 
nuthatch, big quank, Sitta carolinensi8. L, 6-07. Plate LXXVIII A. Above, 
slate-blue with shiny black crown, hindneck, and upper 
shoulders. Female: duller. Below, white, including all of 
face, with chestnut about vent and on undertail-coverts. 
Juveniles: with flanks and lower abdomen also slightly 
washed with chestnut. 
Distinctions. With creeping habits and general color- 
ation, to be mistaken only for the Red-breasted Nuthatch, 
but larger, and the breast and most of the underparts - s 
pure white instead of heavily washed with rufous. The Figure 312 
sides of the face are pure white (Figure 312), instead of White-breasted Nuthatch; 
with a black line through eye and a prominent white about natural size, 
eyebrow-line (Figure 313). The Pygmy Nuthatch is much 
smaller, and has a brownish crown blending into a dark eye stripe (See Figure 314). 
Field Marks. Creeping habits, and even, blue-grey back are characteristic of the 
Nuthatches. The white underparts and the solid white face separate the White-breasted 
from the other species. 
Nesting. In a hole in a tree, usually a natural cavity, in nest of leaves, feathers, etc. 
Distribution. Temperate North America. In Canada, across the southern part of 
the Dominion, rare or absent on the prairies. 
SUBSPECIES. Two subspecies are recognized in Canada. The White-breasted 
Nuthatch Sitia carolinensis carolinensis extends west including Manitoba and probably 
through the northern forested areas to the mountains. The Slender-billed Nuthatch 
Sitta carolinensis aculeata occupied southern British Columbia. The grey on the back 
is slightly darker, or duller in tone and the bill averages slightly longer in proportion to 
its width. The Rocky Mountain Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis nelsoni has been attributed 
to Canada in error. 
The climbing and trunk-creeping of the Nuthatches is a wonderful 
accomplishment. They travel upwards or downwards, forwards or back- 
wards, or even along the underside of branches like flies on the ceiling, with 
