404 Mr. J. D. D. La Touclic on (he 



of tliis race, and the male type of S. sinensis Vcrreaux (a 

 Kiukiaug bird), and other examples in the Paris Museum 

 from Chekiang and Kiangsi, also belong to it. 



The mountain form is a larger bird with much larger bill 

 and stronger legs, and with a hind claw of 0"3 to 0'35 inch. 



The flanks are grey in newly-moulted autumn birds, this 

 grey tint pervading the rest of the underparts in breeding 

 birds. There is no white on the cheeks and throat, and the 

 chestnut of the under tail-coverts is very dark. 



Ten males from Kuatun average : bill from gape 0"83 inch, 

 wing 3, tarsus 0'75, hind toe 0*53, hind claw 0'32. 



Three females from Kuatun average : bill from gape 0'82 

 inch, wing 29, tarsus 0-73, hind toe 0-51, hind claw 0'32. 



All my Kuatun Nuthatches belong to this race, and the 

 male type of S. sinensis Verreaux, from Moupin, specimens 

 from Yerkalo, and some from Chentu in the Paris Museum 

 can also be referred to it. There are other specimens in the 

 Paris Museum, also from Chentu, which appear to be inter- 

 mediate, but the bad state of the skins prevented a satisfactory 

 examination. Should these two races of S. sinensis ultimately 

 prove to be as distinct as they now seem to be, 1 would 

 propose to retain the name of S. sinensis Verreaux for the 

 lowland form, and to distinguish the mountain or grey- 

 flanked bird as >S. montium. 



The Chinese mountain Nuthatch is common in the woods 

 about Kuatun. We took there on the 19th April a clutch 

 of five eggs from a hole in a dead tree-stump about 35 feet 

 high, the hole being near the top of the tree. This stump 

 stood on the edge of a clearing in n pine-wood. The eggs 

 were much incubated, the young being already covered with 

 down. The shape of these eggs is ovate. They are white, 

 spotted with red over well-marked imderlying reddish-violet 

 spots. The spots are more numerous about the large end of 

 the eggs. The surface is somewhat glossy. They measure 

 0-74 X 0-55 (two), ()'73x 0-55 (two), and 070 x 0*55 inch. 



58. LioTniiix LUTEA (Scop.). 



This pretty bird is abundant about Kuatun and breeds 



