t of the prowlers that find
the more exposed nests of many other birds. She deposits five to eight
eggs of a white or creamy-white ground-color, speckled with rufous and
lavender. During the season of incubation and brood rearing the
nuthatches retire to the depth of the woods, and are quiet, secretive,
and unsocial, seldom betraying their procreant secrets.

These birds have another habit that is worth mentioning. Having found
a larger supply of food than they require for their immediate use, they
carry morsels away and jam them into all sorts of holes and crannies in
the bark of the trees. I have watched a pair for an hour diligently
laying by a store of sunflower seeds, which they had found at the edge
of the woods. They do not store a quantity of provision in one place
like the squirrels, but deposit a tidbit here and there, wedging it
tightly into a crevice by hammering it with their stout bills. Of
course, the woodpeckers and tomtits secure many of these half-hidden
goodies, but Master Nuthatch does not mind that, for he evens up the
theft by appropriating their stores when he finds them.

The white-breasted nuthatch may be known by his flat body and broad
shoulders, his bluish gray coat, black cap and mantle (all in one
piece), white cravat, shirt bosom and vest, with a few rufous
decorations on the belly and under tail-coverts. The following
quotations from Wilson are given as much for their vivacious manner as
for the story itself:

"The male is extremely attentive to the female while sitting, supplying
her regularly with sustenance, stopping frequently at the mouth of the
hole, calling and offering her what he has brought, in the most
endearing manner. Sometimes he seems to stop merely to inquire how she
is, and to lighten the tedious moments with his soothing chatter. He
seldom rambles far from the spot, and when danger appears, regardless
of his own safety, he flies instantly to alarm her. When both are
feeding on the trunk of the same tree, or of adjoining trees, he is
perpetually calling on her; and, from the momentary pause he makes, it
is plain he feels pleased to hear her reply.

"He rests and roosts with his head downwards; and appears to possess a
degree of curiosity not common in many birds; frequently descending,
very silently, within a few feet of the root of the tree where you
happen to stand, stopping, head downward, stretching out his neck in a
horizontal direction, as if to reconn