of the United States. 97 



Inhabits throughout the union : less common than the pre- 

 ceding species : migratory. 



154. Sitta pusilla, Lath. Plumbeous ; head and neck 

 above light brown ; beneath dull white ; lateral tail feathers 

 black, tipped with slate, and crossed with a streak of white. 



Brown-headed Nuthatch, Sitta pusilla Wils. Am. Orn. ii. 

 p. 105. pi. IB. Jig. 2. 



Inhabits the southern states : rather common : resident. 



FAMILY XII. ANTHOMYZI. 



Anthomyzi, Vieill. Ranz. Suspensi, Tenuirostres, 111. 

 Tenuirostres, Cuv. Lair. Order Anisodactyli, Temm. 



Bill, elongated or moderate, slender, entire, very acute, or 

 tuhulous at tip : tongue long, slender, fibrous, extensible. 

 Feet short, or moderate, slender ; tarsus annulated, naked, 

 or half feathered ; hind toe slender, shorter than the inner ; 

 the latter united at base to the middle one. Tail of ten or 

 twelve feathers. 



Moult semi-annually. Plumage generally brilliant. 



Feed chiefly on the nectar of flowers, which they suck by 

 means of their long and extensible tongue; some species 

 also partly on insects. Some construct their nest with much 

 art, and lay several times a year. Generally no voice. 

 Difficult to domesticate. 



29. TROCHILUS. 



Trochilus, L. Gm. Lath. 111. Cuv. Temm. Vieill. Ranz. 

 Polytmus, Mellisuga, Briss. Trochilus, Orthorhyncus, Lacep. 

 Dim. Dumont. 



Bill elongated, incurved, recurved or straight, (3 subg.) 

 slender, rounded, depressed at base where it is as wide as the 

 front, acute at tip ; edges of the upper mandible covering 

 the lower, the bill thus forming a tube ; mouth very small : 

 nostrils basal, linear, covered behind by a turgid membrane : 

 tongue greatly elongated, very extensible, entire at base, 



