742 l The Sparrow-like Birds 



beer, quick,' ' chick'ty-beaver, lim'ber stick,' etc." RIDGWAY. Their nests 

 are elegant specimens of bird architecture, being deeply pensile, composed of 

 soft mosses, lichens, and other substances, and suspended from the forks of a 

 twig, usually at a height of from three to five feet from the ground. 



Of the remaining genera in which the legs and feet are stouter and the lateral 

 toes nearly equal in length, Pachysylvia, which embraces nearly thirty forms, 

 has short and rounded wings, a smaller, somewhat conical bill, and the coloration 

 of the head more or less different from that of the other portions ; they are natives 

 of Central and South America. Their habits do not greatly differ from those of 

 Vireo, though of the Gray-footed Pachysylvia (P. griseipes] of Margarita Island, 

 Venezuela, Robinson says that it is found usually in the cactus hedges along the 

 roads, where its actions seem much like those of our Maryland Yellow-throat. 

 The brightest-colored members of the family are comprised for the most part 

 in the genus Cyclarhis, w T hich has the strong, laterally compressed bill much 

 shorter than the rest of the head, the principal colors of the plumage being green, 

 chestnut, and yellow, the latter occurring on the under parts. The only species 

 we may mention is the Ochre-headed Greenlet (C. ochroce phala) of Brazil and 

 Argentina. It is olive-green above with the cap brownish ochraceous, cheeks 

 clear gray, throat grayish white, and under parts yellow ; its length is seven inches. 

 In his "Birds of the Lower Uruguay," Barrows says: "The bird's favorite haunts 

 seem to be the tangled thickets and low woods which border the streams. Here, 

 walled in by netted masses of jasmine, sarsaparilla, and the passion flower, 

 there was little fear of interruption, and the male was often heard pouring forth 

 his strong, clear warble with an energy which always suggested a bird twice his 

 size." 



THE NUTHATCHES 



% 



(Family Sittidce) 



There are differences of opinion as to what shall be included within the limits 

 of this small group as well as regards their affinities and position, some writers 

 placing them with the Certhiida (Creepers), others with the Paridtz (Titmice). 

 They are undoubtedly related to both these families, but especially with the latter, 

 yet they possess characters which seem to entitle them to full family rank, and this 

 is perhaps best expressed by placing them near the latter group. They are stocky 

 little birds, mostly between five and seven inches in length, with a subcylindrical, 

 slender, acute bill about as long as the head, long, pointed, " ten-primaried " 

 wings, a short nearly even tail of twelve soft, broad feathers, a short tarsus which 

 is scutellate in front and composed of two entire longitudinal plates behind, 

 and a very long hind toe, while the front toes are very unequal in length. They 

 are highly scansorial birds, climbing with the greatest facility about the trunks 

 of trees or the faces of cliffs, assuming all manner of positions, but never making 

 use of the tail as a support as do the Woodpeckers and others. They appear 

 rather to "hug" the tree or rock upon which they cling, and no climbing birds 



