454 
NUTHATCHES AND TITS 
sociable little creatures, and their flocks often join the ranks of other 
small foresters. If you catch sight of a nuthatch on the side of a 
tree trunk and he turns his head to look at you, you are struck by 
his white neck patch. It can be seen from a distance, and becomes 
a striking directive mark in the dark forest, being conspicuous when 
the outlines of the bird’s body are almost indistinguishable. In the 
Sierra Nevada, when passing the birds on horseback, I have lost 
sight of one I was watching till it turned its head, and then a spot 
of white stood out against the dark bole of a tree, placing it in¬ 
stantly. 
Like the brown creepers the blue-gray nuthatches are tree-trunk 
birds, but they do not hunt as systematically as the creepers, and are 
as likely to be found hanging head down as up, while they walk 
along under a branch as calmly as flies on a ceiling, though they 
have no stiff pointed tails to aid them. 
728. Sitta canadensis Linn. Red-breasted Nuthatch. 
Adult male. — Top of head glossy black, side of head with white super¬ 
ciliary and black eye stripe; under parts reddish brown; back bluish gray ; 
wings plain; tail with white patches on outer feathers. 
Adult female : black of head replaced by bluish gray ; under 
parts lighter reddish brown. Young: similar, but duller. 
Length: 4.12-4.75, wing2.60-2.85, bill about .60. 
Distribution. — Breeds in Canadian zone of North Amer¬ 
ica ; in the United States in the higher mountain ranges; 
wintering south to the southern border of the United States. 
Nest. — Described by Henshaw, in stub a few feet from the ground, 
lined with fine shreds of pine bark. Eggs: 4 to 8, grayish white, thinly 
spotted with red at larger end. 
The red-breasted nuthatch is often found with the slender-billed 
in the west. 
Fig. 581. 
730. Sitta pygmsea Vig. Pygmy Nuthatch. 
Adults. — Top of head grayish brown or olive gray, nape usually white ; 
rest of upper parts bluish gray; tail with basal half of middle feathers 
white ; eye stripe black; chin white ; rest of under parts dull huffy. Young: 
wing coverts usually more or less distinctly edged with pale huffy. Length: 
3.80-4.55, wing about 2.60, bill .60-. 65. 
Distribution. — Breeds in Transition and Canadian zones from British 
Columbia south to Mt. Orizaba, Mexico; and from the Rocky Mts. to the 
Pacific. 
Nest. — In crevice of bark or holes in trees 20 or more feet from the 
ground, lined with feathers, down, wool, and hair. Eggs: 6 to 9, white, 
covered with red spots, most thickly about the larger end. 
The nuthatches are all interesting, but there is a peculiar charm 
about the little pygmy. In the Sierra Nevada aculeata and pygmcea 
are sometimes seen together in the pines about camp. When you 
see the slender-billed coming down the tree trunk over your head 
