154 AVES INSESSORES. [SITTA. 



the back pale grayish brown ; middle and lower regions barred with 

 black and white: wings black, with five transverse bars of yellowish 

 white : tail black, with one broad, white, crescent-shaped bar : abdomen 

 white; flanks with a few longitudinal brown streaks: bill flesh-red at 

 the base, black at the tip : irides and feet brown. In the female, the 

 colours are paler, and the crest not so long. (Egg.) Uniform pale 

 lavender-gray : long. diam. one inch and half a line ; trans, diam. eight 

 lines. 



Visits this country most years, but in very small numbers. Occasion- 

 ally met with in diiferent parts of England : rarely breeds with us. 

 Habits somewhat terrestrial. Food coleopterous, and other insects. 

 Builds in the holes of trees. Nest formed of bents, and lined with 

 feathers and other soft materials. Eggs four or five in number. 



GEN. 43. SITTA, Linn. 



125. S. Europcea, Linn. {Nuthatch.) Upper parts 

 bluish ash ; breast and belly reddish yellow ; a black 

 streak across the eye and ear-coverts. 



S. Europsea, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. i. p. 407. Id. torn. in. p. 285. 

 Nuthatch, Mont. Orn. Diet. Selb. Illust. vol. i. p. 385. pi. 39. 

 f. 1. Bew. Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 142. 



DIMENS. Entire length six inches ten lines. 



DESCRIPT. Crown of the head, and all the upper parts of the plumage 

 bluish ash: a black streak from the corner of the bill across each eye, 

 and extending down the sides of the neck as far as the shoulder ; cheeks 

 and throat white; breast and belly dull orange-red; sides and thighs 

 ferruginous chestnut ; under tail-coverts white, edged with ferruginous : 

 tail consisting of twelve short flexible feathers; the two middle ones 

 gray ; the four outer ones black, with a white spot near the extremity, 

 the tips themselves gray : bill blackish above, white at the base of the 

 lower mandible: irides hazel: feet yellowish gray. (Egg.) White, 

 spotted and speckled with pale red : long. diam. nine lines ; trans, 

 diam. seven lines. 



Common in wooded districts in many parts of the country, but not in 

 all. Rare in some of the northern and western counties. Remains with 

 us the whole year. Climbs trees with great facility, and equally well in 

 all directions. Feeds principally on nuts, which it breaks with its bill 

 after having firmly fixed them in the crevices of old trees ; occasionally 

 on insects. Nest placed in the holes of trees, and formed of dead leaves. 

 Eggs six or seven in number. 



GEN. 44. CUCULUS, Linn. 



126. C. canorus, Linn. {Common Cuckow.) Head, 

 neck, breast, and upper parts, bluish ash : abdomen whitish, 

 with transverse dusky bars. 



C. canorus, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. i. p. 381. Id. torn. in. p. 272. 

 Common Cuckow, Mont. Orn. Diet, and Supp. Selb. Illust. vol. i. 

 p. 397. pi. 37, and pi. 43. f.3. Bew. Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 124. 



DIMENS. Entire length thirteen inches six lines : length of the bill 

 (from the forehead) ten lines, (from the gape) one inch two lines ; of the 



