SITTIDJE : N UTHA TCHES. 



271 



Fig. 143. — Canada Nuthatch, 

 nat. size. (Ad nat. del. £. C.) 



excepting the twd middle feathers, black, each feather marked with white in increasing amount, 

 the outer web of the lateral featlier being mostly white. Bill blackish-plumbeous, pale at 

 the base below. Feet dark brown. Iris browu. Length 5.50-0.00; extent 10.50-11.00; 

 wing 3.50; tail 1.75; bill about 0.6G long, 0.18-0.20 deep at base. 9 : Similar; black of 

 head imperfect, mixed or overlaid with the color of the back, or altogether restricted to the 

 nape. Eastern U. S. and British Provinces, resident, abundaut in woodland, where its curious 

 quank, quank, quank may often be heard as the nimble bird hops up and down the tree-trunks. 

 Nest in holes, often excavated by the birds with infinite labor, lined with fur, feathers, grasses, 

 etc. ; eggs numerous, 0.80 X 0.60, white, profusely speckled Math reddish and lilac. 



58. S. c. aculea'ta. (Lat. aculeata, sharpened; referring to the slender bill.) Slender-billed 

 Nuthatch. Like the last; bill slenderer, 0.12-0.16 deep at base. Inner secondaries scarcely 

 or not variegated witli blackish, and general tone of coloration duller. Woodland of Middle 

 and "Western provinces of the U. S., common, replacing No. 57. 



59. S. canaden'sis. (Lat. of Canada, an Iroquois word. Fig. 143.) Red-bellied Nuthatch. 

 Canada Nuthatch. $, adult: Upper parts leaden-blue (brighter than in S. curolinensis), 

 the central tail-feathers the same ; wings fuscous, with slight 

 ashy edgings and concealed white bases of the primaries. 

 Entire under parts rusty-brown, very variable in shade, from 

 rich fulvous to brownish-white, usually palest on the throat, 

 deepest on the sides and crissum ; tail-feathers, except the 

 middle pair, black, the lateral marked with white. Whole top 

 and side of head and neck glossy black, that of the side appear- 

 ing as a broad bar through the eye from bill to side of neck, 

 cut off from that of the crown by a long white superciliary stripe, which meets its fellow across 

 the forehead. Bill dark plumbeous, paler below ; feet plumbeous-brown. Length 4.50-4.75 ; 

 extent 8.00-8.50; wing 2.60; tail 1.50; biU 0.50. ?: Crown like the back ; lateral stripe 

 on the head merely blackish. The under parts average paler than those of the $, but there 

 is no constancy about this. Young birds resemble the 9- Temperate N. Am., common, iu 

 woodland; habits like those of No. 57; eggs similar, smaller, 0.65 X 0.54. 



60. S. pusil'la. (Lat. pusilla, puerile, petty. Fig. 144.) Brown-headed Nuthatch. ^ 9 : 

 No black cap or wliite stripe on head. Upper parts dull ashy-blue ; under parts sordid or 

 muddy whitish. Cap clear hair-brown. A decided spot of 

 white on the middle of the nape, in the brown cap, which on 

 the sides of the head includes the eyes, and is bordered with 

 dusky. Middle tail-feathers like back, vidthout black, and with 

 little or no white. Small : length scarcely 4.00 ; extent about 

 8.00; wing 2.50; tail 1.25; tarsus 0.60; bill about 0.50 

 South Atlantic and Gulf States ; N. to Virginia and Ohio 

 Habits of the other species : eggs 0.60 X 0.50, very heavily 

 speckled with dark reddish -brown. 



61. S. pygmae'a. (Gr. 7rvy/x^, ^M(7me, the fist ; Liat pygnueus, a 

 pygmy, fistling, or tom-thumb.) Pygmy Nuthatch. J 9 '• Upper parts ashy-blue, and 

 wings with slight if any markings (as in canadensis), though some outer primaries may be 

 narrowly edged with white. Whole top of head, nape, and sides of head to below eyes, olive- 

 brown, the lateral borders of this patch blackish ; an obsolete whitish patch on the nape. 

 Central tail-feathers like the back, but with a long white spot, and their outer webs black 

 at base ; other tail-feathers blackish, with white marks, and often also tipped with the color of 

 the back. Entire under parts ranging from muddy-white to smoky-brown or rich rusty, nearly 

 or quite as intense as in S. canadensis; flanks and crissum shaded with a dull wash of the 

 color of the back. Bill and feet dark plumbeous, the former paler at base below. Iris black. 



1 K, 144 — Blown he.Kled Nut- 

 liatch,n<it bize (Ad nat del E C) 



