sumed, and I was convinced during that season that it was a food suited to the needs of all our winter~birds, both seed and insect eaters finding in it what they required.
The Chickadee breaks the silence of many Winter days with his jovial notes, and fairly begs for companionship:—
Chicrchicadeedee! saucy note
Out of sound heart and merry throat,
As if it said, “Good day, good sir!
Fine afternoon, old passenger!
Happy to meet you in these places,
Where January brings few faces.”—R. W. Emerson.
FAMILY PARIDÆ: NUTHATCHES AND TITMICE.
Sub-family Sittinæ: Nuthatches.
- Length:
- 5.50—6 inches.
- Male and Female:
- Body flat and compact. Above slate-blue. Top of head and nape black. Wings slate, edged with brown. Outer tail feathers brownish with white bars. Belly white, rusty toward vent. Bill dark lead-colour, feet dark brown. Female paler with colour boundaries less distinctly marked.
- Song:
- A call, “Quank—quank-quank!" and a few other notes.
- Season:
- A common resident, roving about all winter.
- Breeds:
- Freely in all parts of range.
- Nest:
- In tree holes, which it excavates with great patience, and lines with feathers, moss, etc., after the fashion of Titmice.
- Eggs:
- Often 10, white, speckled with red and lilac.
- Range:
- Southern British Provinces and eastern United States to the Rocky Mountains.
This Nuthatch, who is our most conspicuous bird-acrobat, persistently walking head downward and performing various tortuous feats while he searches for food, is a resident of the eastern United States, only leaving the most northerly parts of his range for a short time in winter.
He appears to migrate in spring and return in autumn, but in reality only retreats to the woodlands to breed, emerging again when the food supply grows scant in the autumn.
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