——————E EEE 
———— 
aS. 
SITTIDEZ, NUTHATCHES. CERTHIIDH, CREEPERS.—GEN. 16. 83 
restricted to nape, or altogether absent. Eastern United States to the 
Piame:)) Was., 1, p..40; Novr., i, 581; Aup.; iv, 175, pl. 2473) Bo,, 
Neem nee fe Cetin cee le. ceo nes ko ret eee CAROLINENSIS. 
Var. acuLeata. Slender-billed Nuthatch. Exactly like the last, except slen- 
derer bill; not over 15-100 deep at base. Plains to Pacific. Bp., 375; Coop., 54. 
** Rusty brown below, nearly uniform; back bluer than in the last, head with 
white stripes, crown black or like back; tail as in the last; wings plain; medium 
in size; 41 to nearly 5; wing 22, tail 13. 
Red-bellied Nuthatch. & with crown glossy black, bordered by white 
stripes meeting across forehead, below these a black bar through eye to 
hind nape, below this, and the chin, white. 9 with crown like back, and the 
lateral black stripe merely dusky ; young with no 
black on the crown and lateral stripes obscure. 
North America, but rather northerly. Wius., i, 
40, pl. 2; Nurr., i, 583; Aup., iv, 179, pl. 248; 
De Ol Gc wars tess sie 2. 4s +s » CANADENSIS. 
KKK . ] j . ino 
Pale rusty or brownish white below; wings, jy¢. 97, Red-bellied Nuthatch; 
tail and back, much as in the last; crown and nape natural size. 
brown to below eyes, the lower border darker ; head without white stripes. Small- 
est; 4, or less, long; wing 23, tail 11. 
Brown-headed Nuthatch. Crown clear hair-brown; a distinct little 
whitish spot on nape; middle tail feathers like back, with no black, and 
little or no white at base. South Atlantic States, strictly. Wuus., ii, 105, 
pl. 15; Norr., i, 584; Aup., ii, 181, pl. 249; Bp., 377, . . PUSILLA. 
Pygmy Nuthatch. Crown dull olive brown, its lateral borders blackish ; 
the nuchal whitish spot wanting or obscure; middle tail feathers white at 
base, and there black-edged on outer web. This species is apt to be quite 
brownish underneath, instead of merely muddy white, as in the last; but 
both vary much in this respect. Rocky Mountains to Pacific, United States. 
ATID pls OAs ple200); D250 5) COOP) 00- ol - co =) 7 «) EY GMAAL 
Family CERTHITDA. Creepers. 
A very small, well-marked group, of about a dozen species, and four or five 
genera, which fall in two sections, commonly called subfamilies; one of these, 
Tichodromine, is represented by the well known European Creeper, T. muraria, and 
several, chiefly Australian, species of the genus Climacteris; while the genus Cer- 
thea, with five or six species or varieties, and one or two allied genera (all but one 
Old World) constitutes the 
Subfamily CERTHIIN. Typical Creepers. 
Our species may be known on sight, among North American Oscines, by its 
rigid, acuminate tail-feathers, like a woodpecker’s. Besides :—bill about equal to 
head, extremely slender, sharp and decurved; nostrils exposed; tarsus shorter 
than 3d toe and claw, which ‘is connate for the whole of the 1st joint, with both 
2d and 4th toe; 1st toe shorter than its claw; claws all much curved and very 
sharp ; tarsus scutellate ; wings 10-primaried, 1st very short, not one-half the 2d, 
