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Red-breasted Nuthatch
Adult male--Upper parts gray; head black, with a white line over the eye; under parts buffy red, except the throat, which is white.
Adult female--The black of head replaced by gray. Length--4.62.
Breeding Range--"May be roughly defined as embracing the entire spruce-forested regions of northern New England, including portions of Berkshire and Worcester counties, Massachusetts" (Brewster).
The nest, of fine grass, is in a cavity, usually in a decayed tree, from four to fifteen feet from the ground. 4 to 6 eggs are laid; they are creamy white, with numerous reddish brown and lavender spots. Size--.60 x .48.
In writing of this small nuthatch, Davie mentions a curious fact connected with its nests: "The bark at their entrance is coated with fir-balsam or pitch, from an inch to three or four inches around the hole. In one instance the pitch extended down for twenty-one inches, and was stuck full of the red breast feathers of the nuthatches." The breeding season begins in June, occasionally two broods being reared.