_Sitta europæa_, var. γ, _carolinensis_, GM. S. N. I, 1788, 440.
_Sitta carolinensis_, LATH. Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 262; also of
all other American writers.—REICHENBACH, Handbuch, Abh. II,
1853, 153, tab. dxiii, figs. 3563, 3564.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 374, pl. xxxiii, fig. 4; Review, 86.—MAX. Cab. Jour.
VI, 1858, 106. _Sitta melanocephala_, VIEILL. Gal. I, 1834,
171, pl. clxxi.
Other figures: WILSON, Am. Orn. I, pl. ii, fig. 3.—AUD. Orn. Biog.
II, pl. clii.—IB. B. A. IV, pl. ccxlvii.
[Illustration: PLATE VIII.
1. Sitta carolinensis, _Gm._ ♂ Pa., 59324.
2. “ “ “ ♀
3. Salpinctes obsoletus, _Say._ Cal., 7157.
4. Catherpes mexicanus, _Sw._, _var._ Mex., 53425.
5. Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus, _Lafr._ ♂ Cal., 7149.
6. “ affinis, _Xantus._ ♂ Cape St. Lucas, 12965.
7. Sitta canadensis, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 818.
8. “ “ “ ♀ Pa., 2073.
9. “ pusilla, _Lath._ Ga., 1925.
10. “ pygmæa, _Vig._ Cal., 3342.
11. Certhia americana, _Bon._ ♂ Pa., 827.]
SP. CHAR. Above ashy-blue. Top of head and neck black. Under parts and
sides of head to a short distance above the eye white. Under
tail-coverts and tibial feathers brown; concealed primaries white.
Bill stout. Female with black of head glossed with ashy. Length about
6 inches; wing about 3.75.
HAB. United States and British Provinces; west to the Valley of the
Missouri.
[Illustration: _Sitta aculeata._]
HABITS. The common White-bellied Nuthatch has an extended distribution
throughout nearly the whole of Eastern North America, from the
Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains. West of the great central plains it
is replaced by the var. _aculeata_. It has not been met with, so far
as I am aware, farther north than Nova Scotia. It is a resident of
Eastern Maine, and is quite common in the southern and western
portions of the same State. In Massachusetts it is rather common than
abundant, and more plentiful in the western than in the eastern
portions of that State.
The habits of this and the other species of Nuthatches partake
somewhat of those of the smaller Woodpeckers and of the Titmice.
Without the noisy and restless activity of the latter, they seek their
food in a similar manner, and not unfrequently do so in their company,
moving up or down the trunks and over or under the branches of trees,
searching every crack and crevice of the bark for insects, larvæ, or
eggs. Like the Woodpeckers, they dig industriously into decayed
branches for the hidden grub, and like both Woodpeckers and Chickadees
they industriously excavate for themselves a place for their nests in
the decayed trunks of forest trees. Their nest, however, is usually at
a greater elevation, often some twenty or thirty feet from the ground.
The European Nuthatch is said to plaster up the entrance to its nest,
to contract its opening and lessen the dangers of unfriendly
intrusion. This habit has never been observed in any of the American
species.
All our ornithological writers have noticed the assiduities of the
male bird to his sitting mate, and the attention with which he
supplies her with food. He keeps ever in the vicinity of the nest,
calls her from time to time to come to the mouth of the hole to take
her food, or else to receive his endearments and caresses, and at the
approach of danger fearlessly intervenes to warn her of it. When
feeding together, the male bird keeps up his peculiar nasal cry of
_hŏnk-hŏnk_, repeating it from time to time, as he moves around the
trunk or over the branches.
Their favorite food is insects, in every condition. With this, when
abundant, they seem content, and rarely wander from their accustomed
woods in summer. In winter, when snow or ice covers the branches or
closes against them the trunks of trees, they seek the dwellings and
out-houses for their necessary food, and will even alight on the
ground in quest of seeds. In searching for food among the trees, they
move as readily with their heads downward as in any other position.
Their motion is a uniform and steady progression, somewhat in the
manner of a mouse, but never, like the Woodpecker, by occasional hops.
The European species collect and store away the fruit of the hazel and
other nut-bearing trees. Our bird has been supposed to do the same
thing, but this is by no means an indisputable fact.
In some parts of the country absurd prejudices prevail against these
interesting little birds. They are indiscriminately confounded with
the smaller Woodpeckers, called, with them, Sap-Suckers, and because
in the spring and fall they frequent old orchards are most unwisely,
as well as unjustly, persecuted. They are among the most active and
serviceable of the fruit-grower’s benefactors. His worst enemies are
their favorite food. It is to be hoped that soon a better-informed
public opinion will prevail, cherishing and protecting, rather than
seeking to destroy, this useful, affectionate, and attractive species.
Interesting accounts are given in English works of the confiding
tameness of the European species. When kindly treated, it will come
regularly for its food, approaching within a foot or two of the hand
of its benefactor, and catching with its bill the food thrown to it
before it can reach the ground.
The pair work together in constructing the perforation in which they
make their nest. When the excavation has been well begun, they relieve
each other at the task. The one not engaged in cutting attends upon
its mate, and carries out the chips as they are made. These
nesting-places are often quite deep, not unfrequently from fifteen to
twenty inches. Audubon states that they build no nest, but this does
not correspond with my observations. In all the instances that have
come to my knowledge, warm and soft nests were found, composed of
down, fur, hair, or feathers loosely thrown together, and, though not
large in bulk, yet sufficient for a lining for the enlarged cavity
that completes their excavation. Soon after they are hatched, the
young climb to the opening of the nest to receive their food, and,
before they are ready to fly, venture out upon the trunk to try their
legs and claws before their wings are prepared for use, retiring at
night to their nest. In the Southern States they are said to have two
broods in a season.
The eggs of this Nuthatch measure .80 by .62 of an inch. Their
ground-color is white, but when the egg is fresh it has a beautiful
roseate tinge, and generally receives an apparently reddish hue from
the very general distribution of the spots and blotches of rusty-brown
and purplish with which the eggs are so closely covered. These
markings vary greatly in size, from fine dots to well-marked blotches.
Their color is usually a reddish-brown; occasionally the markings are
largely intermixed with purple.
Sitta carolinensis, var. aculeata, CASS.