BmnS OF KANSAS. 625 



of a well-filled crescent. In the center of lowest part of the 

 sag thus formed was the depression for the reception of the 

 eggs — an exceedingly neat, cup-shaped hollow, bordered by 

 stripes of soft, flesh-colored bark and lined with feathers from 

 Ducks and other wild birds. The whole was fastened to the 

 concave inner surface of the bark scale rather than to the tree 

 itself, so that when the former was detached it readily came off 

 with it. I afterwards found two old nests, which were perhaps 

 originally built by this same pair of birds, as they were placed 

 on a tree that stood close at hand. They were under a single, 

 enormous piece of bark, but at its opposite lateral extremities. 

 One of them, a nearly shapeless mass of rubbish, was scarcely 

 recognizable, but the other still retained its original shape and 

 finish, and contained an unhatched egg, the contents of which 

 had long since dried away. Probably they represented the 

 homes successively occupied during the two preceding seasons, 

 and it is hence likely that this species, like so many others, re- 

 turns year after year to breed in nearly the same spot." 



Eggs five to nine, .60x.48; white to creamy white, speckled 

 and spotted with reddish brown, chiefly about the larger end; 

 in form, oval. 



Family TARTDM. Nuthatches and Tits. 



•'Bill generally short, coulcal, not notched or decnrved at tip. Ciilmen 

 broad and rounded, not sharply ridged at base. Nostrils rounded, basal, and 

 concealed by dense bristles or bristly feathers. Loral feathers rough and bristly, 

 directed forwards. Tarsi distinctly scutellate; basal joints of anterior toes ab- 

 breviated, that of middle toe united about equally for three-fourths its length to 

 the lateral; in Parince forming a kind of palm for grasping; outer lateral toe 

 decidedly longer than the inner. Primaries ten, the first much shorter than 

 the second. Tail feathers with soft tips. Nest in holes in trees; eggs white, 

 spotted with reddish." 



Subfamily SITTING. Nuthatches. 



"Body depressed. Bill about equal to or longer than the head. Wings 

 much pointed, much longer than nearly even tail; tarsus shorter than the mid- 

 dlle toe and claw, which are about equal to the hinder. Plumage more com- 

 pact." 



Genus SITTA Linn.eus. 



"Bill subulate, acutely pointed, compressed, about as long as the head; cnl_ 



men and commissure nearly straight; gonys convex and ascending; nostrils 

 —40 



