Range. - United States east of the Rockies, breeding from the Gulf to southern Canada; resident throughout its range.

These birds are creepers, but unlike the last species, these run about on the trunks, either up or down; their tails are not pointed and stiffened like those of the Brown

Creepers, and their plumage is gray and black above with a black crown, and white below.

They nest in holes in trees, usually deep in the woods and at any elevation from the ground; they nearly always use deserted Woodpeckers' holes but are said at times to excavate their own, with great labor as their bills are little adapted for that work. They line the cavities with bark strips and hair or feathers, and during April or May, lay from four to nine white eggs, profusely specked with reddish brown and lilac. Size .80 x .60. Data. - Lancaster, Mass., May 16, 1902. Nest in hole in an oak tree, 45 feet above ground; made of fine strips of bark fibre and hair.

White.

White-breasted Nuthatch.

727a. Slender-Billed Nuthatch. Sitta Carolinensis Aculeata

Range. - North America, west of the Rockies and from Mexico to British Columbia.

This species is as abundant in the west as the last is in the east, and nests in like situations. The eggs cannot be distinguished from those of the eastern birds.

727b. Florida White-Breasted Nuthatch. Sitta Carolinensis Atkinsi

Range. - Florida and the South Atlantic coast to South Carolina.

The habits and eggs of these birds are like those of the northern ones.

727c. Rocky Mountain Nuthatch. Sitta Carolinensis Nelsoni

Range. - Rocky Mountains from Mexico north to British Columbia. Their nesting habits or eggs are not distinctive in any respect.

727d. San Lucas Nuthatch. Sitta Carolinensis Lagunae

Range. - Mountain ranges of Lower California.

Said to be like aculeata but with the wings and tail slightly shorter.