614 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



Prof. W. K. Parker, from an fxainination of the skull of Ci/dorhix, pronounces 

 it " the large prototyj)e uf the little Chinese Sutkont,^'' and as he found tliat the latter 

 has "a skull which comes nearer to that of the tits than any I have yet examined," he 

 arrived at a conclusion, which he expressed by calling C'yc/or/u'« "this large archaic 

 lit." On the other hand, Mr. Sharpc refers Sttthora and its allies to the Timuliida?. 

 Still, I think that even on account of the external charactera they might be placed as 





Fio. 2S3.—^Egilhalo3 caudatus, long-tailed tit. 



a sub-family under the Pakid.e, the tits. One of tlie most remarkable Passeres seems 

 to be allied to iSiit/iora, viz., the three-toed Cholornis j}Cirado.v(i, which the celebr.i- 

 ted French traveler, Abbe Arinand David, discovered in western China. The 

 unique feature of this bird is the 8upi)rcssion of the fourth, that is, the inner 

 anterior toe. 



The present family may be divided into two sub-families besides the Suthorina?, if 

 we decide to keep them here, viz., the true tits and the nuthatches (Sittinas). The 



