(SITTA PUSSILLA)

All the accounts I have seen in books say the brown-headed nuthatch builds no nest, but lays her eggs in the bottom of a hollow in the tree on the decayed wood. Now, I have never found one that did not make an attempt to build a nest. I have found several, ranging from two to forty feet from the ground, and in every case a nest was built, composed of fibrous roots, pieces of hanging moss, hair and feathers mixed together. The nests were built in a hollow in a decayed tree, from one foot to three feet deep. The nest is very loosely put together, and it is impossible to remove it without cutting the cavity open to the bottom of the nest. A gentleman in California, who is well versed in Ornithology and Oology, who I wrote to in regard to it, says his knowledge and experience has been in almost every case, that a nest is attempted by this bird—the description of a nest taken by him in Orange county, Fla., some years ago is—the nest was composed of pieces of fibrous, decayed wood, small scales of pine bark, wings of pine seeds, and a little woolly vegetable material arranged in cup form.

G. Noble,

Savannah, Georgia.