180 



Breeding In the Alps full clutches may be found from the beginning of June 



^*^'°''- to about the 26'*^ of that month, but most eggs appear to be laid 



between May 28 and June 10. In Carinthia Keller found full clutches 



from May 25 to June 6. 



Measure- Avcragc of 31 eggs (13 quoted by Rey and 18 measured by the 



°'^"*'' writer) 20.84x14.85 mm., Max. 22.7x15.7, Min. 20x14. (Two eggs 



in the British Museum, said to have been taken on Mt. Cenis, are 



smaller than any others I have seen, measuring only 18.7x14 and 



18.2x13 mm., and may be the produce of birds kept in confinement.). 



Rey gives the average weight of 4 eggs as 137.5 mg. , varying from 



130 to 145 mg.. but an egg from S. Spain is said to have weighed only 



100 mg. (Hocke). 



85. Nuthatch, Sitta europaea L. 

 Geographical Races. 



a. British Nuthatch, Sitta europaea britannica Hart. 



Plate 26, fig. 14 (Surrey, 16. V. 04). 



Eggs: Hewitson, I Ed. I, pi. XLIX, fig. 1, 2; II Ed. I, pi. LIV, 

 fig. 2; III Ed. I, pi. LXII, fig. 4. Seebohm, Br. Birds, pi. 12; id. Col. 

 Fig. pi. 54. Frohawk, Br. Birds, I, pi. Ill, fig. 83, 84. Dresser, pi. — , 

 fig. 39, 40. 



Local Names: Nuthack, Niitjobber, Mudstopper, Woodcracker, Jar 

 Bird. Welsh: Cnocyll y cnau. 



Sitta ccesia Wolf. Newton, ed. Yarrell, I, p. 473. Dresser, Birds 

 of Europe, III, p. 175 and Man. Pal. Birds, p. 188 (part.). Saunders, Man. 

 p. 113. S. europaea britannica Hart. Hartert, Vog. Pal. Fauna, p. 332. 



Breeding Range: The southern and central counties of England: 

 rare in the north. 

 British The chief haunts of the Nuthatch are parks and wooded districts, 



Avhere the timber is allowed to grow to a good size. In localities of 

 this kind it is found throughout the greater part of England and Wales, 

 south of about lat. 55° N., but becomes very scarce or is altogether 

 absent in the extreme west, as in W. Cornwall, Pembroke, the shores 

 of Cardigan Bay, and Carnarvon. It is absent from the Isle of Wight, 

 Anglesea, aud the Isle of Man, but has penetrated to the inland counties 

 of Wales, (Montgomery, Radnor, and Brecon) and is not uncommon in 

 Carmarthen. North of lat. 55" the records become very scanty: in 

 Cheshire it is only found in the S. W., it is local and scarce in N. E. 

 Derbyshire, Notts and Lincoln, but occurs in some of the older parks in 

 W. Yorkshire. It is said to have formerly bred in Northumberland, 



Isles. 



