48 NEW-YORK FAUNA — BIRDS. 



FAMILY CERTHIDJE. 



Bill generally elongate, slender, awl-shaped, acute, compressed. Nostrils basal, obvious, 

 half closed by a membrane. Tarsus naked, with seven or eight scutellce. Toes long and 

 slender. Wings moderate or short, broad and rounded. Tail short, broad, of twelve 

 feathers. 



Obs. Under this family, Charles Bonaparte has included the Nuthatches, Creepers, and 

 Wrens, comprising seven European and fourteen American species. 



GENUS SITTA. Linnaeus. 



Bill moderate, very hard, conic, subulate, slightly compressed, with short bristles at the 

 base. Mandibles equal ; the lower slightly curved from the middle. Nostrils basal, round, 

 partly covered by reversed bristly incumbent feathers. Tongue short, slender, wide at 

 base ; its tip terminating in strong bristles. Tarsus short, with eight scutellae. Toes long, 

 much compressed ; hind toe long, with a stout compressed and hooked nail. Second, 

 third and fourth quills longest. Dwell in woods. Feed on insects, and occasionally on nuts 

 and seeds. 



THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH. 



SlTTA CAROLINENSIS. 



PLATE XLI. FIG. 91. 



(STATE COLLECTION. Male and female.) 



Silta carolinensis, Brisson. While-breasted Blank-capped Nuthatch, Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 1, p. 40, pi. 2, fig. 3. 

 White-breasted American Nuthatch, Nuttall, Man. Orn. Vol.1, p. 581. 



White-breasted Nuthatch. Audubon, fol. pi. 152 ; Orn. Biog. Vol. 2, p. 299, and Vol. 5, p. 373 ; B. of A. Vol. 4, 

 p. 175, pi. 247. Giraud, Birds of Long island, p. 166. 



Characteristics. Slate-blue above. Head and neck above black ; beneath pure white. 

 Bill long. Young : Head plumbeous. Length five inches. 



Description. Bill straight, longer than the head, with incumbent feathers at the base of 

 the upper mandible, extending beyond the nostrils. The first and fifth quills subequal. Tail 

 nearly even, slightly rounded. 



Color. Summit of the head and back of the neck glossy black, dilating over the shoulders. 

 Back bluish. Quills black, edged with bluish. Inside of the wings, near the shoulders, 



