448 BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Sitta carolinensis . . . var. aculeata Coues, Check List, 1873, no. 38o, part. — 

 Yarrow and Henshaw, Orn. Rep. Wheeler's Surv., 1874, 8 (Wasatch Mts., 

 Utah).— Hexshaw, Rep. Orn. Spec. Wheeler's Surv., 1874, 40 (Utah), 73 

 (Fort Garland, Colorado, breeding), 100 (Arizona; New Mexico), 155 (Ari- 

 zona); Zool. Expl. W. 100th Merid., 1875, 173 (Colorado; Arizona). 



ISUta carolinensis.] Var. aculeata Coues, Key N. Am. Birds, 1872, 83, part. 



Sitta carolinensis aculeata Coues, Birds Col. Val., 1878, 134, part; Check List, 2d 

 ed., 1882, no. 58, part.— Ridgway, Norn. N. Am. Birds, 1881, no. 51a, 

 part— Agersborg, Auk, ii, 1885, 277 (s. e. South Dakota; "resident").— 

 Seton, Auk, iii, 1886, 327 (Big Plain, Portage la Prairie, and along Red R., 

 w. Manitoba; summer resid.).— American Ornithologists' Union, Check 

 List, 1886, no. 727o, part.— Cooke, Bird Migr. Miss. Val., 1888, 276 (w. 

 Manitoba; e. Nebraska; Vermilion, s. e. South Dakota; Fort Davis, w. 

 Texas); Bull. 37, Col. Agric. Coll., 1897, 122 (Colorado, resident, breeding 

 from 7,500 ft. to timber line).— Scott (W. E. D.), Auk, v, 1888, 165 (s. Ari- 

 zona, in mountains). —Thompson, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xiii, 1890,630 (Mani- 

 toba, in oak woods; summer resid.; habits). — (?) Fannin, Check List Birds 

 Brit. Col., 1891, 43 (e. side Cascade Range).— Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. N. H., 

 V, 1893, 41 (El Pinito, Napolera, etc., n. Sonora).— Jouy, Proc. U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., xvi, 1893, 776 (32 m. s. of Nogales, Sonora, June 19).— Merrill, Auk, 

 XV, 1898, 20 (Fort Sherman, Idaho, l)reeding).—(?) Chapman, Bull. Am. 

 Mus. N. H., iii, 1900, 153 (interior British Columbia). 



ASitta carolinensis ... /J. aculeata Ridgway, Orn. 40th Parallel, 1877, 415, part 

 (Wasatch and Uinta Mts., Utah). 



Sitta carolinensis, ft. aculeata Ridgway, Field and Forest, iii. May, 1877, 196 

 (Colorado). 



S\_itta^ c[cirolincnsis'] aculeata Coues, Key N. Am. Birds, 2d ed., 1884, 271, part.— 

 Bailey (Florence M.), Handb. Birds W. U. S., 1902, 453, part. 



S{:itta'] carolinensis aculeata Ridgway, Man. N. Am. Birds, 1887, 559, part.— 

 Hellmayr, Tierreich, 18 Lief., 1903, 188, part (northern Rocky Mts.). 



Sitta carolinensis nelsoni Mearns, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., xxiv, no. 1274, -Tune 2, 

 1902, 918 (Huachuca Mts., Arizona; coll. U.S. Nat. Mus.). —Bailey (Florence 

 M.), Handb. Birds W. U. S., 1902, 453, footnote. 



Slittal carolinensis nelsoni HshLMAYR, Tierreich, 18 Lief., 1903, 188. 



SITTA CAROLINENSIS MEXICANA Nelson and Palmer. 

 MEXICAN NUTHATCH. 



Similar to S. c. nelsoni., but with relativel^y much smaller bill and 

 coloration of under parts decidedly darker, especially the sides and 

 flanks, only the throat and sides of head and neck being pure white, 

 the other under parts grayish white or pale gray medially, deepening 

 into deep bluish gray (slightly paler than back) on flanks. 



Adult male.— Length (skins), 124-136 (130.6); wing, 88.5-98.5 (91,8); 

 tail, 44.5-53 (47.5); culmen, 16-19 (17.8); tarsus, 16.5-19 (17.6); mid- 

 dle toe, 13-16 (14. 5). « 



Adult female.— hength (skins), 123-135 (129.7); wing, 86.5-91.5 

 (89.2); tail, 42-48 (45.2); culmen, 16.5-19 (17.8); tarsus, 16.5-18 (17.3); 

 middle toe, 13-15 (14.2).* 



a Twenty specimens. '' Seven specimens. 



