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Brown-headed Nuthatch
Adult--Upper parts gray; top and back of head grayish brown, with a spot of white over the nape; under parts light gray or whitish. Length--4.50.
Breeding Range--From Virginia southward.
Nest placed usually in a hole, made by the birds themselves, in a stump or tree, within a few inches of, or as much as sixty feet from, the ground.
It is composed of "short pieces of grass, bits of cotton wool, feathers, and the leaf-like substance of 'pine seed leaves'" (Davie). The eggs, 4 to 6 in number, are more or less heavily spotted and blotched with reddish brown and pale lilac. Size--.56 x .46.
The Brown-Headed is the smallest of the Eastern nuthatches, and is readily identified by the white spot on its neck. Breeding season in March.