24 



SITTID^ SITTA CAROLINENSIS VAR. ACULEATA. 



152.— AUD., Syu. 1839, 167.— Aud., B. Am. iv, 1842, 175, pi. 247.— Bd., B. N. A. 

 1858, 374, pi. 33, fig. 4 ; Rev. 18G4, 8G.— Maxim., J. f. O. vi, 1858, 10(5.— Scl., Ibis, 

 Apr. 1865.— Allex, Bnll. M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 174 (Eastern Kansas).— Sxow, B. 

 Kans. 1873, 6. — Scott, Pr. Bost. Soc. Oct. 1872 (breeding in monntains of West 

 Virginia).— Trippe, ibid. 1872, 236 (Iowa).— Mayn., B. Fla. 1872, 35.— CouES, 

 Key, 1872, 83, lig. 26 ; and of writers. 

 Siita melanocephala, Vieii.l., Gal. Ois. i, 1834, 171, pi. — , 



Hal). — Eastern United States and British Provinces, West to the Lower Missouri. 

 Not noticed by either Expedition. 



Excepting the lower valley, the species is replaced by the following iii 

 the Missouri region : 



SITTA CAROLINENSIS var. ACULEATA, (Cass.) Allen. 



Slenitler-billed Nuthatch. 



Sitia aciileata, Cass., Pr. Pbila. Acad, viii, 1856, 254.— Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 375, pi. 33, f. 3.— 

 Kenn., p. R. R. Rep. x, part iv, 26, pi. 33, f. 4. — Heerm., ibid, part vi, 55. — 

 Coop. & Suck., N. H. Wash. Ter. 1860, 193.— Bd., Rev. 1864, 86.— Coues, 

 Pr. Pbila. Acad. 1866, 78.— Coop., Am. Nat. iii, 1869, 74; B. Cal. i, 1870, 54.— 

 AiKEX, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1872, 195.— Mekk., U. S. Geol. Surv. Ter. 1872, 672. 



Sitta caroliuensis, Nutt., Man. 2d ed. 1840, i, 695 (west coast). — Newb., P. R. R. Rep. vi, 

 1857, 79 (western).— (?) Scl., P. Z. S. 1856, 293; 1858, 300; 1859, 363, 373 (Mex- 

 ico).— (?) SuMiCH., Mem. Bost. Soc. i, 1869, .544 (Vera Cruz). 



Sitia caroliuensis var. acuhata, Allex, Bull. M. C. Z. 1872, 174.— Coues, Key, 1872, 83. 



Eab. — Middle and Western Provinces, United States ; south to Cordova, Mexico. 



List of specimens. 



19228 

 19229 



166 

 167 



Chevenne River. . 

 ...-.'.-do 



Oct. 19, 1859 

 ..-.do 



F.V.Hayden. 

 do 



5.50 

 5.00 



11.25 

 11.00 



3.50 

 3.50 



Not obtained by Lieutenant Warren's Expedition. 



Later Expeditions. — 62297, Lower Gej^ser Basin, Wyoming {Merriani). 



The slender-billed form is as abundant in the wooded regions of the 

 West as its Eastern representative. Its habits are [)recisely the same. 

 Neither variety appears to extend much, if any, north of the United 

 States, in this respect differing from iS. canadensis. 



The distinction between the two varieties consists mainly in the slen- 

 derer bill of var. aculeata. Since its first introduction into the system, 

 by Mr. Cassin, in 1856, it has been currently rated as a species, until 

 reduced to its proper position by Mr, Allen and myself, about simulta- 

 neously. Dr. Sclater had, however, previously expressed strong doubts 

 of its validity, although he did not formally make the reduction, in his 

 admirable account of the genus Sitta, published in the Ibis, April, 1805. 



The range of the typical carolinensis meets that of aculeata in the re- 

 gion embraced in the present report; the former bird being found in 

 Kansas and Missouri, but apparently not far up the river. 



The niditication of the Nuthatches is similar in most respects to that 

 of the Titmice. They build in holes of trees, constructing a shallow 

 nest of grasses and similar vegetable substances, lined with hair or 

 feathers. The eggs of the present species are five or six in number, 

 white or creamy-white in color, speckled and blotched with reddish- 

 brown and lavender, sometimes over the whole surface, but ottenest 

 chiefly about the larger end, where they frequently form, or tend to 

 form, a wreath. They measure 0.75 to 0.82 in length, by 0.55 to 0.G3 in 

 breadth. 



