i6| Family Sittid.c 



The nest itself is formed of the usual materials — moss, dr}' grass, wool, feathers, 

 aud fur; constructed generally about the end of April, or beginning of Ma3\ The 

 eggs are said to number from four to eight, the full clutch probably would be 

 from six to eight, if one may judge from its congeners. In colouring they seem 

 to vary much as in the other species ; they are white, spotted and speckled with 

 brownish or sienna-red, sometimes all over, sometimes in blotches, or with a zone 

 towards the larger end, occasionall}* with an irregular patch at that end. 



It is very probable that, in Germany, this species may be kept in aviaries, 

 but in England I have only seen it at bird-shows ; Swaysland, however, speaks 

 of it as "a very desirable addition to an aviary of Tits," therefore he may 

 possibly have been more fortunate. 



FAMILY SITTID^. 



THIS group is represented in Great Britian by only one species, which 

 Seebohm regarded merely as an aberrant genus of Tits ; but he stated 

 rightly, that " In their habits thej- resemble the Woodpeckers and the 

 Creepers more than the true Tits." Nevertheless in their activit}' and many of 

 their actions Nuthatches are ver}' Tit-like ; so also, in the strength of their bills 

 and feet, the position and covering of the nostrils, their short first primary, 

 scutellated tarsi aud hooked hind-claw, they show Purine affinities, whilst their 

 eggs are extremely Tit-like in character. 



Our Nuthatch, though it approaches the Titmice, could never be confounded 

 with them ; it has more nearly the aspect of a dull washed-out Liotltrix, 3'et with 

 a little longer bill : it seems therefore far better to follow Howard Saunders, and 

 regard it as the representation of a distinct, though allied, famil}'. In one respect 

 it differs very widely from the Tits in habits, and that is in its use of cla}' to 

 lessen the size of a hole containing its nest, aud the very meagre character of 

 the nest itself. 



In Vol. \^III of the "Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," Dr. Gadow 

 regards the Nuthatches as a Subfamil}' of the Creepers (Cctiliiidcc), practicalh' 

 ignoring the affinity of the former to the Titmice ; but, apart from the total 



