392 



EEVIEW OF JAPANESE BIEDS. 



(222 ^ar<.) Sitta amurensis clara Bubsp. nov. 



Tesso Nuthatcli. 



Ki-mawari. 



1858. — Sitta sibirica Cassin, Pr. Pbilada. Acad., 1858, p. 195 (nee Brehm, 1855). 

 1862.— Sitta roseilia Blakiston, Ibis, 1862, p. 322 (nee Bon ap., 1850 ?).— Jd., ibid., 1863, 



p. 99. 

 1863. — Sitta nralensis Blakiston, Ibis, 1863, p. 89 (nee Light., 1834). 

 1867. — Sitta europwa Whitely, Ibis, 1867, p. 196 (nee Linn.).— Swinhoe, Ibis, 1874, p. 



152.— Blakist.&Pryer, Ibis, 1878, p. 2m(part).—Iid., Tr. As. Soc. Jap.,viii, 



1880, p. 218 (part). — Seebohm, Ibis, 1879, p. 34. — Blakist., Chrysanth., Jan., 



1883, p. 30. 

 1882. — Sitta europwa svibsp. uralensis Blakiston & Pryer, Tr. As. Soc. Jap., x, 1882, p. 



152 (jpar*).— Blakist., Chrysanth., Oct., 1882, p. 522.— Id., Am. List. B. Jap., 



p. 51 (part) (1884). 



DiAGN. — Similar to Sitta ainurensis, hnt with the whole breast white, and the abdo- 

 men and flanks only faintly suffused with a creamy buff. 

 Hab. — Yesso, Japan. 

 Type.— U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 91547. 



The specimens before me are apparently all females, and male birds 

 from Yesso are, therefore, very desirable. In addition to the character 

 indicated in the diagnosis these females are noteworthy for the nearly 

 complete absence of chestnut on the flanks and the paleness of the 

 brown edges of the- under tail-coverts. Probably, the males will show 

 more of the chestnut color, but judging from analogy I think it safe to 

 say that the amount will be perceptibly less than in the Hondo birds. 



This, of course, is only a slight northern modification of 8. amurensis, 

 the white color of which has increased to a perceptible extent. In con- 

 sequence the trace of white at the frontal line, the white superciliary 

 line, the white line across the wing formed by the ends of the great 

 coverts, and the white band across the external tail-feathers, are more 

 distinct or broader, features still more pronounced in the next form. 



Measurements. 



