82 SITTIDH, NUTHATCHES.—GEN. 15, 16. 
olive gray; paler (whitish, etc.) below. Both species are western; these and 
Auriparus flaviceps build the curious pensile nests above mentioned. 
Least Titmouse. Crown dark brown, unlike back. Pacific coast to 
Sierra Nevada. AuvD., ii, 160, pl. 130; Bp., 397; Coor., 48. . mrnrus. 
Leaden Titmouse. Crown like back. Iris brown or yellow. Arizona. 
BD, 5398; COOP, 49% terre ie ake oy ee a eT ESET 
15. Genus AURIPARUS Baird. 
Yellow-headed Titmouse. Ashy; paler below; head all yellow (this color 
wanting in the young) ; bend of wing chestnut; 44; wing and tail about 24. 
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, South and Lower California. Bp., 400, and 
Reyi5785 3 (Coops, 518) ts Sree oh op exes sn See SAI GEES 
Family SITTIDA. Nuthatches. 
These birds differ in so many respects from either Certhiide or Paride, with both 
of which they have been associated, that I shall give them independent family rank. 
Cuars.— Bill subcylindrical, tapering, compressed, slender, acute, nearly or about 
as long as the head, culmen and commissure about straight, gonys long, convex, 
ascending (giving a sort of recurved look to a really straight bill). Nostrils 
rounded, concealed by bristly tufts. Wings long, pointed, with 10 primaries, the 
1st very short or spurious ; tail much shorter than wings, broad, soft, nearly even ; 
tarsus shorter than the middle toe and claw, scutellate in front; toes all long, 
with large, much curved, compressed claws; Ist toe and claw about equal to the 
3d; 2d and 4th toes, very unequal in length; plumage compact; body flattened ; 
tongue horny, acute, barbed. Nuthatches are amongst the most nimble and adroit 
of creepers; they scramble about and hang in every conceivable attitude, head 
downwards as often as otherwise. This is done, too, without any help from the 
tail—the whole tarsus being often applied to the support. They are chiefly insec- 
tivorous, but feed also on hard fruits ; and get their English name from their habit 
of sticking nuts and seeds in cracks in bark, and hammering away with the bill till 
they break the shell. They are very active and restless little birds, quite sociable, 
often going in troops, which keep up a continuous noise; lay 4-6 white, spotted 
eggs, in hollows of trees. The family is a small one, of less than thirty species, 
among them a single remarkable Madagascan form, Hypherpes, a genus peculiar 
to Australia (Sittella), and another confined to New Zealand (Acanthisitta) : but 
it is chiefly represented by the genus Sitta, with 12 or 14 species, 8 or 9 of Europe 
and Asia, and the following of our country : — 
16. Genus SITTA Linnzus. 
~e WE? below, flanks and under tail coverts washed with rusty brown; ashy- 
blue above, middle tail feathers the same, other 
tail feathers black, spotted with white; crown 
and nape glossy black, without stripes; wings 
varied with black, white and the color of the 
back. Large; 51-6; wing 3}, tail 2 
Fic. 26. White-bellied Nuthatch; nat, size. White-bellied Nuthatch. As above; bill 
over 15-100 deep at base. In the young and many 9’s, black of head 
Se ee ee eee ee ee eee 
wre <ipcanani whe! eile os 
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