''°]f89o!"'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 343 



The tibia of Sitta is characterized by the carious shape of its proxi- 

 mal portion, where it is tbin and bent inward ; but as something very 

 similar occurs iu Gerthia this would seem to be a teleological modifica- 

 tion from climbing. 



The tibia is also proportionately shorter iu Sitta than in Paridce, 

 while the first phalanx of the first digit is remarkably long. 



Taking all skeletal characters iuto consideration, the differences be- 

 tween Sitta and the Paridce are such as would seem to preclude their 

 being grouped together, while the peculiarities iu the wing of Sitta. 

 slight as they may appear, when added to the other characters, seem 

 sufficient to warrant the assignment of the genus to a separate family. 



At the same time I wish to qualify this by saying that until more 

 s[)ecies of the genus and those genera apparently allied to it have been 

 worked out the matter cannot be considered as settled. 



The last form to be considered in this paper is Chamwa. 



This genus was placed by Sundevall in hisgrou[) To.ro.s^ommfe next to 

 (nileoseoptes, and iu Gray's Hand List stands as a family between Par- 

 ida' and MniotHtida\ 



Professor Baird in the Birds of North America makes Chammnw a 

 subfamily of Wrens and in his Review of American Birds elevates it to 

 family rank between Paridw and Si/lvicolida', with the remark that " it 

 may ])roperly belong to some Old World group." 



Dr. Cones, iu the Key to North American Birds, puts the family 

 Cliamwidw between Sylviidw and Parid(C, adding that it may be placed 

 with the Timeliidm as J ustly as many other forms, 



Mr. Sharpe, in the British Museum Catalogue of Birds, Vol. VII, 

 creates the group Ghamcea^ in the family Timeiiidw, the Wrens also being 

 relegated to this family. He says : 



The curious little bird which forms the siugle represeutative of the present group 

 possesses characters which seeiu to ally it to several other groups; and it is not 

 surprising that it has beeu considered by Professor Baird to belong to a separate 

 famili', Chamwadce. The wing is essentially Timeliine, being concave and rounded, 

 with a large first primary ; the legs, too, are strong ; but in other respects tlie gen- 

 eral aspect of the bird is Titlike, and Professor Baird places it in close proximity to 

 the Tits in his " Review." 



In the A. O. U. Check List Ghanuca appears with other genera in a 

 subfamily {Ghamannw) of Parida', and in Itidgway's Manual of North 

 American Birds it also figures under Paridcc, but with the following 

 note : 



I liave been obliged to assign different limits to the subfamilies Parinw and Cham- 

 (I'itue from those given in the A. 0. U. Check List, on account of the impossibility of 

 giving characters which would cover the extremely different genera there inadvert- 

 ently placed under Chammncv. The latter properly includes only Ckavuva ; and ic is 

 extremely doubtful whether this genus has any real affinity with the Parida', its 

 relationship being probably much nearer to the Troglodytidm. 



In the Standard Natural History, Mr. Stejneger is " most inclined to 

 regard the Ghanueinw only as a subtamily of the Wrens," and my own 



