During the summer we will see comparatively little of this bird who, with equal ease, climbs either down or up a tree trunk, but in the winter he will be a constant patron of the nuts and suet on our lunch counters. Habit, markings, his unmistakable yank-yank, all distinguish him from our other birds, except his Canadian cousin to which, after all, he bears only a family resemblance.
In April, 5-7 white, brown speckled eggs are laid in a hole in a tree, lined with feathers, etc.
RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH
Sitta canadensis. [Case 2], Figs. 60, 61
Underparts brownish, a line through the eye, black in the male, slate in the female. Smaller than the White-breasted Nuthatch. L. 4¾.
Range. Nests from northern New England and northern Minnesota into Canada; south along the Alleghanies to North Carolina; winters from southern Canada to the Gulf States.
Washington, irregularly abundant W.V., sometimes rare, Sept. 15-May 10. Ossining, irregular W.V., Aug. 8-May 8. Cambridge, irregular T.V., and W.V., Aug. 15-Nov. 25; Nov. 25-Apl. 15. N. Ohio, tolerably common W.V., Sept. 4-May 22. Glen Ellyn, irregular T.V., Apl. 24-May 21; Aug. 19-Dec. 12. SE. Minn., common T.V., uncommon W.V., Sept. 24-Apl. 21.
Late in August when I hear a note such as one might imagine a baby Nuthatch would utter, I know that the Red-breasted Nuthatch has arrived from the north perhaps to spend the winter, or, may be, to go farther south. He never seems quite as familiar as his larger, louder-voiced, white-breasted cousin, and if one wants to make his acquaintance it is well to follow the sound of his penny-trumpet-like notes until their author is discovered.
BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH
Sitta pusilla. [Case 4], Fig. 66
The head is browner than in the figure; the nape has a downy white patch. Smallest of our Nuthatches. L. 4½.
Range. Nests from Florida to southern Delaware and southern Missouri; a Permanent Resident.