h. 30.

To see the Brown Creeper is to knew him but so inconspicuous is he that
unless you chance to observe him drop from one to tree near the foot of
another, you may overlook the little figure creeping spirally upward.
Nor are his thin, weak, squeaky call-notes more likely to attract
attention than he is himself. A true bird of the bark, he not only hunts
upon it but builds his nest behind it, laying 5-8 white, brown-spotted
eggs in May.

NUTHATCHES. FAMILY SITTIDAE

WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH

_Sitta carolinensis carolinensis. Case 2, Figs. 38, 39; Case 4, Fig. 65_

Crown black, cheeks white; breast white; the
female with a gray crown. L. 6.

_Range._ Nests from Gulf States to Canada; a
Permanent Resident. The Florida White-breasted
Nuthatch (_S. c. atkinsi_) a slightly smaller form
in which the female as well as the male has the
crown black, is the race inhabiting Florida, the
Atlantic coast to South Carolina and the Gulf
coast to Mississippi.

Washington, common T.V. and W.V., less common S.R.
Ossining, common P.R. Cambridge, P.R., rare in
summer, uncommon in winter, common in migrations;
most numerous in Oct. and Nov. N. Ohio, common
P.R. Glen Ellyn, fairly common P.R. SE. Minn.,
common P.R.

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. 4-3/4.

_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.,
Au