BIRD LIFE IX WASHINGTON 
115 
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH 
This is just a little gray bird with black 
and white stripes on its head and its un¬ 
derparts tinted with red. It is about the 
size of chickadee. 
For several years we followed a pecul¬ 
iar, penetrating little note before we could 
unite it with its owner. “Yank, yank, 
yank,” it said, in a plaintive nasal tone. 
I could hear it among the stubs of the half 
logged districts. The singer, if such it 
could be called, was often as much as an 
eighth of a mile away. 
o t/ 
Once I was watching Oregon Towliee 
guarding his nest in a brush pile, when 
“Yank, yank, yank,” sounded nearer and 
nearer and Red-breasted Nuthatch fleiv 
past. 
“So it is you,” I thought, “whose lan¬ 
guage is: “ ‘yank, yank, yank/ if you’ll 
permit me, I'll follow you.” 
It visited a hole about eight feet from 
the ground in a stub. Nest architecture 
is a wonderful study! There are many 
tree dwellers but what other home is just 
like this! 
Around that hole Avas a heavy broad 
ring of wax which the bird had plastered 
to the tree; perhaps to keep out unwel¬ 
come crawling insects. 
This house was full of children so I 
