52 BIRDS. 



2, P. hudsonicus, Forster. Hudsoniax Chickadee. 

 Olive brown; crown browner; some pale chestnut below; 

 no white superciliary line; I^. 5; W. 2^; T. 2f. British 

 America; S. to Mass. 



FAMILY XXII. — SITTID^. 



{The Niithatclies.) 

 Primaries 10, the first spurious. Wings long and 

 pointed, much longer than the broad soft tail. Bill not 

 notched, rather slender, straight, nearly as long as head. 

 Loral feathers bristly; nostrils concealed by dense tufts. 

 Tarsus scutellate, shorter than middle toe and claw. 

 Tongue acute, barbed. Body depressed; plumage lax, 

 but less so than that of the Titmice. Active, nimble 

 little birds, running up and down trees, and hanging in 

 every conceivable attitude, the head down as often as 

 up. Species twenty-five or thirty, in most parts of the 

 world. 



/. SITTA, Linnneus. Nuthatches. 



1. S. carolinensis, Gm. White -Bellied Nuthatch. 

 " Sap Sucker." Ashy blue above, white below; crissum, 

 etc., washed with rusty browni; crown and nape black, 

 unstriped; middle tail feiithers like the back, others 

 black, blotched with white; $ with less or no black on 

 the head; L. 5 J; W. 3|-; T. 2. U. S.; abundant every 

 where. 



2. S. canadensis, L. Red - Bellied Nuthatch. Ashy 

 blue, brighter than the preceding, rusty brown below; 

 crown glossy black (5), or bluish ($), bordered by white 

 and black stripes; L. 4J-; W. 2|; T. IJ. U. S., and 

 northward. 



3. S. pusilla, Lath. Brown -Headed Nuthatch. 

 Ashy blue; crown clear brown, a whitish spot on nape, 



