SITTING. 387 



251. Sitta cinnamomeoventris, Blyth. 



J. A. S., XL, 459— Blyth, Cat. U41— Horsf., Cat. 1052— 

 Gould, Birds of Asia, pi. 8 — S. nipalensis, apud Bonap. — Sisi, H. 

 — Sidht/i-phip, Lepcli. 



The Cinnamon-bellied Nuthatch. 



Descr. — Above, ashy-plumbeous, lightest on the head and neck ; 

 beneath, white on the chin and lores ; neck, breast, abdomen, and 

 lower tail-coverts, deep bright cinnamon-chesnut in the male, 

 dull rusty cinnamon-colour in the female ; a black eye-streak from 

 the nostrils ; the tertiaries have their internal webs black, extending 

 more or less to the outer web ; tail-feathers deep black, with a white 

 spot on the inner webs (except the outer one which has only a trace 

 of white), and a grey spot on the outer; all tipped with dusky. 



Length 5| inches; wing 3^; tail 1|; extent 11; bill at front 

 nearly | ; foot l|i. 



This species is very closely allied to the last ; the bill is broader, 

 not so much compressed, and it is a somewhat stouter bird. It has 

 only been procured in the South-eastern Himalayas. I found it in 

 Sikhim, from 2,000 feet to nearly 6,000 feet. Buch. Hamilton, in 

 his MSS., as quoted by Horsfield, says that he found it at Chunar 

 in mango-groves, in pairs or families, and that it was said to retire 

 to the hills in the rains. Surely he must have had the last species 

 (castaneoventris) in view, and not this one. 



252, Sitta formosa, Blyth. 



J. A. S., XIL, 938— Blyth, Cat. l\dS—Tishe kuyi rjumbo, 

 Lepch. 



The Beautiful Nuthatch. 



Descr. — Black, splendidly variegated with different shades of 

 blue ; streaked with cobalt-blue on the head, and with azure-blue 

 on the back, and with whitish, mixed with lavender, on the sides of 

 the neck ; the shoulders, lesser wing-coverts, the scapulars, lower 

 back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, vcrdigris-blue ; the greater wing- 

 coverts and tertiaries black, elegantly margined with white at their 



