CAROLINA NUTHATCH. 
201 
the most endearing manner. Sometimes he seems to 
stop merely to inquire how she is, and to lighten the 
tedious moments with his soothing chatter. He seldom 
rambles far from the spot ; and when danger appears, 
regardless of his own safety, he flies instantly to alarm 
her. When both are feeding on the trunk of the same 
tree, or of adjoining ones, he is perpetually calling on 
her ; and, from the momentary pause he makes, it is 
plain that he feels pleased to hear her reply. 
The white-breasted nuthatch is common almost every 
where in the woods of North America, .and may be 
known, at a distance, by the notes, quanh , quank , fre- 
quently repeated, as he moves, upward and down, in 
spiral circles, around the body and larger branches of 
the tree, probing behind the thin scaly bark of the 
white oak, and shelling off considerable pieces of it, in 
his search after spiders, ants, insects, and their larvae. 
He rests and roosts with his head downwards, and 
appears to possess a degree of curiosity not common in 
many birds ; frequently descending, very silently, within 
a few feet of the root of the tree where you happen to 
stand, stopping, head downward, stretching out his neck 
in a horizontal position, as if to reconnoitre your 
appearance ; and, after several minutes of silent obser- 
vation, wheeling round, he again mounts, with fresh 
activity, piping his unisons as before. Strongly attached 
to his native forests, he seldom forsakes them ; and, 
amidst the rigours of the severest winter weather, his 
note is still heard in the bleak and leafless woods, and 
among the howling branches. Sometimes the rain, 
freezing as it falls, encloses every twig, and even the 
trunk of the tree, in a hard transparent coat or shell of 
ice. On these occasions I have observed his anxiety 
and dissatisfaction, at being, with difficulty, able to 
make his way along the smooth surface; at these times 
generally abandoning the trees, gleaning about the 
stables, around the house, mixing among the fowls, 
entering the barn, and examining the beams and rafters, 
and every place where he may pick up a subsistence. 
The name nuthatch has been bestowed on this family 
