Color Key to North American Birds Part 81

[Ill.u.s.tration: 727.]

=727. White-breasted Nuthatch= (_Sitta carolinensis_). L. 6. _Ad._ [Male]. Crown and foreback _bluish_ black; sides of head and neck grayish white; tertials with _distinct_ black marks rounded at end.

_Ad._ [Female]. Similar but black of head and shoulders washed with gray. _Notes._ Call, a nasal _yank-yank_ and conversational notes; song, a tenor, _ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha_, all on the same note.

Range.--Eastern North America west to the Rocky Mountains, breeds from the Gulf States to Minnesota and New Brunswick; resident.

=727a. Slender-billed Nuthatch= (_S. c. aculeata_). Similar to No. 727, but head usually greenish black; black of tertials less deep and one next to inner one usually pointed at end.

Range.--Western North America west of the Rockies: breeds from Lower California north to British Columbia; resident.

=727b. Florida White-breasted Nuthatch= (_S. c. atkinsi_). Similar to No. 727, but somewhat smaller, wing-coverts and tertials not tipped with grayish; [Female] with head black as in [Male].

Range.--Florida and north along the coast to South Carolina.

=727c. Rocky Mountain Nuthatch= (_S. c. nelsoni_). Similar to No. 727a, but larger, W. 3.7, with somewhat more white in tail and more rusty on flanks and lower belly.

Range.--Wooded mountains of northern Chihuahua and Sonora, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and northward. (Mearns.)

=727d. St. Lucas Nuthatch= (_S. c. lagunae_). Similar to No. 727a, but with the wings and tail shorter, the black tips of the outer tail-feathers more restricted; W. 3.2; T. 1.7. (Brewster.)

Range.--Higher mountains south of La Paz, Lower California.

(Brewster.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 728.]

=728. Red-breasted Nuthatch= (_Sitta canadensis_). L. 4.6. _Ad._ [Male]. A stripe through the eye and crown, black; line _over_ eye white; underparts rusty. _Ad._ [Female]. Similar, but crown gray like back, line through the eye blackish, paler below. _Notes._ A fine, thin, nasal, penny-trumpet like, drawled _yna-yna_.

Range.--North America, breeding from the northern portions of the northern tier of States northward, and southward in the Alleghanies to Virginia, in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado, and in the Sierra Nevada in California; winters irregularly southward to the Gulf States and Arizona.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 729.]

=729. Brown-headed Nuthatch= (_Sitta pusilla_). L. 4.3. _Ads._ Crown brown; a white patch on nape; back bluish gray; below grayish white, sometimes tinged with buff. _Yng._ Crown whitish. _Notes._ A conversational, twittering _tnee-tnee_.

Range.--South Atlantic and Gulf States north to Delaware, accidentally to New York and casually to Missouri.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 730.]

=730. Pygmy Nuthatch= (_Sitta pygmaea_). L. 4.3. _Ads._ Crown grayish olive; a whitish patch on nape; a dark brown line through eye; below white tinged with buff. _Yng._ Crown gray like back. _Notes._ A metallic, clinking c.l.i.ttick, c.l.i.ttick.,

Range.--Western North America, east to the Rocky Mountains; breeds from Mexico to British Columbia.

=730a. White-naped Nuthatch= (_S. p. leuconucha_). Similar to No. 730, but bill larger, crown grayer, back less bluish gray, nape patch more conspicuous, underparts white with scarcely more than a trace of buffy. (Ridgw.)

Range.--Lower California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 444.]

=444. Kingbird= (_Tyrannus tyrannus_). L. 8.5. Tail tipped with white.

_Ads._ Above slaty, crown blacker with an orange patch. _Yng._ Similar, but no crown-patch. _Notes._ An unmusical, steely chatter.

"A soft and very pleasing song," heard only in the early morning.

(O. T. Miller.)

Range.--North America, breeds from Florida north to New Brunswick and Manitoba, and from eastern Texas northwest to Utah, Nevada, northeast California and western British Columbia; winters south of United States, to Central and South America.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 445.]

=445. Gray Kingbird= (_Tyrannus dominicensis_). L. 9. _Ads._ No white tip on tail; an orange crown-patch; under wing-coverts sulphur; ear-coverts black; above gray; below white. _Notes._ A loud, chattering, _pitirri_, _pitirri_.

Range.--West Indies, breeding north through Florida along the coast to South Carolina; winters in Lesser Antilles, Mexico, and Central America.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 701.]

=701. American Dipper; Water Ouzel= (_Cinclus mexica.n.u.s_). L. 8.

_Ads._ Slaty gray, head and neck browner. In winter more or less tipped with whitish. _Notes._ Song, remarkably sweet and lively, in modulation resembling somewhat that of Brown Thrasher, but less powerful though sweeter in effect. (Ridgway.) Call, a sharp, pebbly _cack-cack-cack_.

Range.--"The mountainous parts of central and western North America, from the Yukon Valley and Unalaska to Guatemala; east in the United States, to the eastern base of the Rocky mountains. Apparently resident throughout its range." (A.O.U.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 704.]

=704. Catbird= (_Galeoscoptes carolinensis_). L. 8.9. _Ads._ Slaty gray, cap and tail black, under tail-coverts reddish chestnut.

_Notes._ Call, a whining, nasal _tchay_; song, rich, musical, and varied.

Range.--North America; west to British Columbia and rarely Pacific coast states; breeds from the Gulf States north to New Brunswick and the Saskatchewan; winters from Gulf States southward.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 754.]

=754. Townsend Solitaire= (_Myadestes townsendii_). L. 8.5. _Ads._ Brownish gray; eye-ring, tips of outer tail-feathers, a narrow wing-bar white; wing with a buff band showing in flight. _Notes._ Song, a rich, flowing, Grosbeak-like warbling, sung with great vigor and freedom and often for comparatively long periods.

Range.--"Western United States, from the Plains westward to the Pacific coast, north to British Columbia and south in winter to the southern border of Arizona and northern Lower California; breeds from the mountains of New Mexico, southern Arizona, and central California northward."

[Ill.u.s.tration: 621.]

=621. Northern Shrike= (_Lanius borealis_). L. 10.2. Lores grayish.

_Ads._ Above bluish gray; tail black, outer feathers tipped with white; below white, usually with wavy bars. _Yng._ Above washed with brown; below more distinctly and more heavily barred _Notes._ Song, not unlike that of the Brown Thrasher but more disconnected, less loud.

Range.--North America; breeds from Labrador to Alaska; winters south, irregularly, to Virginia, Kansas, Arizona, and California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 622.]

=622. Loggerhead Shrike= (_Lanius ludovicia.n.u.s_). 9. Lores black.

_Ads._ Underparts white _without_ bars; above bluish gray; rump and upper tail-coverts little if any paler; tail black, outer feathers tipped with white. _Yng._ Underparts, head, and rump more or less narrowly barred. _Notes._ Call, harsh and discordant; song, a series of guttural gurgles, squeaky whistles.

Range.--Eastern United States; breeds from Florida to Virginia; In Mississippi Valley, northeast to western Pennsylvania, central and northern New York, Ma.s.sachusetts, western New Hamps.h.i.+re, Maine, and British Columbia; migrates down Atlantic States, as well as Mississippi Valley, and winters in southern States.