Front:
auanBreoks
WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH (male and female)
Published by the National Association of Audubon Societies
Back:
No. 44 White-breasted Nuthatch
Length 6 inches
The White-breasted Nuthatch is always associ-
ated, in our minds, with autumn days and the
leafless winter woods, for during these seasons of
the year it is much in evidence. It is then, too,
that in company with Chickadees, Downy Wood-
peckers and Brown Creepers it comes to the feed-
ing-shelf or the suet-container.
This little gleaner of tree-trunks is one of our
most useful birds, for it spends its days climbing
about the branches and boles of trees, searching
in every cranny and crevice for the insects and
larvæ that go to make up the larger part of its
fare. As it clambers about, now head down, now
up, its strange movements are accompanied by a
muffled hank hank which, taken together with its
black cap, bluish-gray back and white breast, leave
no doubt as to its identity.
The nest is in hollow limbs or holes in trees or
stumps, and consists of leaves and feathers. The
eggs are five to eight, white or creamy-white,
speckled with reddish-brown.
Classification: Order Passeres. Family Sittide.
Scientific name: Sitta carolinensis.
Range: Eastern United States, breeding from south-
ern Canada and Newfoundland, south to the Gulf States.
No. 44 from set of 50 Winter Birds of the Northeastern United
States. Published by the National Association of Audubon So-
cieties, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Price per set, in a box,
$1.00 post paid.
