185 



Tolerably common in E. Prussia and in the Russian Baltic Pro- 

 vinces, as well as in Poland and on the plains of Galicia. Probably it 

 is this race which is also found in S. W. Russia and the Crimea, but 

 at present its distribution is not exactly known. Little has been recorded 

 as to its breeding habits, but in the Baltic Provinces it is said to lay 

 6 eggs at the end of April, 



f. Ural Nuthatch, S. europaea uralensis Glog. 



S europaea uralensis Glog. Hartert, Vog. Pal. Fauna, p. 330. 



Breeding Range: The Urals. [Also Siberia]. 



According to Taczanowski's measurements the eggs appear to be 

 decidedly small: 6 averaging 17.93x13.66 mm.. Max. 19x14, Min. 

 17.3X13.2. 



86. Whitehead's Nuthatch, Sitta canadensis 

 whiteheadi Sharpe. 



Plate 26, fig. 15, 16. (Corsica, 26. V. 08, Jourdain.) 



Eggs: Ibis, 1885, pi. II. Cat. Eggs Br. Mus., IV, pi. XIV, fig. 15. 

 Dresser, pi. — , fig. 23, 24. Nest: Ibis, 1885, p. 30. 



Sitta whiteheadi Sharpe. Dresser, Birds of Europe, IX, p. 133; 

 id. Man. Pal. Birds, p. 190. S. canadensis whiteheadi Sharpe. Hartert, 

 Vog. Pal. Fauna, p. 335. 



Breeding Range: Corsica. 



Nothing has hitherts been recorded with regard to the breeding 

 of this interesting bird beyond the notes by Whitehead in the Ibis, 

 1885, p. 28. The writer however found it not uncommon locally in 

 coniferous forest at 3000 ft. above the sea, breeding in dead and 

 decayed pine trees. 



Sometimes an old Great Spotted Woodpecker's nest is used, while Nest. 

 at other times the hole is pecked out by the birds in rotten wood at 

 varying heights from 18 to 80 ft. The cavity is lined with strips of 

 the bark of the Mediterranean heath, mixed with moss and a few 

 feathers, so that the sitting bird is almost on a level with the entrance, 

 which is roughly circular. No clay or mud is ever used. As the nest 

 is always in a tree in the later stages of decay, and often at a 

 considerable height, to reach it is often attended with considerable 

 difficulty and danger. 



Usually 5 or 6 in number, white, as a rule boldly and thickly spotted ^^^^ 

 and speckled with dark red, chiefly round the big end; but occasionally a 

 set is met with in which the markings are comparatively sparse. They 

 have but little gloss. 



