PARID.E — THE TITMICE. 117 



Sitta carolinensis, vai. aculeata, Cass. 



SLENDER-BILLED NUTHATCH. 



Sitta aculeata, Cassix, Pr. A. X. Sc. VIII, Oct. 1856, 254. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 

 375, pi. xxxiii, fig. 3 ; Review, 86. — Coopeh, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 54. ? Sitta caroli- 

 . nensis, Scl.\tei!, P. Z. S. 1856, 293 (Cordova) ; 1858, 300 (Oaxaca) ; 1859, 363 (Xalapa), 

 373 (Oaxaca). 



Sp. Char. Very similar to carolinensis ; but upper secondaries witli only oljscure 

 Iflackisli blotches, instead of sharply defined longitudinal spots of clear black. Bill slen- 

 derer and more attenuated. 



Had. Western and Middle Provinces of the United States, south to Cordova, Mex. 

 Orizaba (Alpine regions), Sumicii. 



The characters given ahove express the essential differences between this 

 and the Eastern race of /S'. carolinensis. In the present form, the depth of the 

 bill opposite its base is .14, the width .17, and .80 or more in length 

 from the forehead ; while these same measurements in var. carolinensis 

 are .17, .22, and .70. The obsolete character of the black spots on the 

 secondaries is a persistent feature in the var. aculeata. 



Hap.its. This bird chiefly differs from its eastern congener in its more 

 slender l)ill. There appears to be no difference in regard to their habits, at 

 least none luive been noticed, and it is probable there is none other than 

 trivial changes caused by its opportunities of procuring food, and the kinds 

 upon which it subsists. It is supposed to be distrilnited throughout Western 

 North America, from the British Possessions to Mexico, though Dr. Cooper 

 thinks that it is not a common bird south of San Francisco, and only to be 

 seen there in the colder months. It has been met with at San Diego in Feb- 

 ruary. He did not observe any in the Coast Mountains, near Santa Cruz, 

 but northward tliey are numerous in the summer, frequenting chiefly the 

 groves of the deciduous, oaks, creeping constantly about their trunks and 

 l:)ranches in search of insects, which they also occasionally seek on the roofs 

 and walls of houses. Their halnts are similar to those of S. canadensis, but 

 tlieir movements are said to be slower, and their note is a single liarsh call, 

 uttered occasionally, and responded to by their comrades. Dr. Cooper found 

 them quite common in Washington Territory and at Paget Sound. Dr. 

 Suckley also mentions their great al)undance. 



Dr. Kennerly met with this species a liundred miles west of Albuquerque, 

 New Mexico, and quite abundant among the pines of the Sierra Madre. He 

 speaks of its note as being peculiar. 



Mr. J. K. Lord states that this species remained about Colville during the 

 winter, when the thermometer was 30° below zero. He also mentions that 

 lie found them nesting, in June, in the branches of the tallest pine-trees, so 

 high up as to render the obtaining their eggs almost an impossibility. 



Mr. Pidgway found the Slender-billed Nuthatch abundant, throughout the 



