[Illustration: Illustrated capital A]
All that has been written of the chickadee and his housing problem
applies also in a general way to the Nuthatch, except that a slightly
larger entrance is needed for the latter bird (see measurements in Table
I). The Nuthatch, somewhat more than his second cousins, the chickadees,
is given to natural knot-holes in living trees. This propensity may well
be humored by giving him a house of the hollowed-out trunk variety. If
the trunk or branch so hollowed out has a knot which can be made of
proper size to serve for the entrance, then that is to add the ultimate
artistic finish, the final delicate "touch of nature." See Plate II.
_Other Nuthatches_
The western subspecies of the White-breasted Nuthatch occur chiefly in
less settled or more restricted ranges, and they are apt to be less
accustomed to, as well as less accessible for, bird houses.
The Red-breasted, Brown-headed, and other small nuthatches share the
hollow-tree nesting habit common to the family. They prefer locations of
the wilder kind, so that the usual bird house is not likely to entice
them away from less sophisticated haunts. Yet it appears likely that any
of the species might select an imitation of its natural nesting site.
Build as for the White-breasted, except that the entrance should be but
1¼ inch in diameter.