Coral-billed Nuthatch 745 



drophila, which embraces at least eight species. Of the several species inhabit- 

 ing various parts of India, the Velvet-fronted Blue Nuthatch (D. frontalis] is 

 a handsome little bird about five inches in length, the entire upper parts being 

 a beautiful purplish blue and the lower parts grayish lilac, while the forehead 

 and a stripe over the eye are velvet-black, and the chin and throat whitish. It 

 is a widely spread species, frequenting well-wooded localities and forests in both 

 hills and plains. The nest is placed in a tiny hole in a tree, but the entrance 

 is not walled up as are the nests of so many of the other Nuthatches; within 

 it is lined w r ith feathers, moss, and hair; the eggs are generally four in number. 



Allied to the above is the monotypic ' Daphcenositta miranda of southeastern 

 New Guinea. 



In the final genus (Neosilta), the ten species of which are confined to Australia 

 and New Guinea, the bill is curved slightly upward, the wings extremely long 

 and pointed, and the plumage mainly brown in color with the middle third of 

 the wing-quills either rusty or pure white. They are active birds though of 

 rather weak flight, going about in small parties, and running up and down the 

 trunks of trees with the utmost rapidity. They do not nest in cavities as do 

 the other Nuthatches, but construct a small nest of short strips of bark attached 

 together and fastened to a branch with cobwebs, the branch usually being the 

 highest and most slender in a tall tree; the eggs are usually but three in number. 



THE CORAL-BILLED NUTHATCH 



(Family Hyposittidcz) 



Sole tenant of its genus and family, the curious little Coral-billed Nuthatch 

 (Hypositta corallirostris) of Madagascar constitutes another example of the 

 many more or less anomalous bird forms that find, or once found, a home in 

 that far-away island. It has usually been placed with the typical Nuthatches 

 (Sittida) and also seems to exhibit leanings toward the Old World Flycatchers 

 (Muscicapida), but characters have recently been discovered which appear to 

 entitle it to full family rank. The coral-red bill is shorter than the head and 

 broader than high, being slightly notched at the tip, while the wings are rounded 

 and the tail nearly square. The most important structural character is afforded 

 by the feet, the hind toe without the claw nearly equaling the middle toe, while 

 the outer toe is very nearly as long as the middle one and united to it for a distance 

 of nearly two joints. The hind neck and remaining upper parts are dull blue 

 with a greenish tinge, the lores and chin white, and the head and lower parts 

 dull slaty brown; the length is slightly under five inches. This bird inhabits 

 the large forests, frequenting especially the damp ravines, when after creeping 

 spirally up the trunk of one tree it flies down to the base of the next to search 

 it in a similar careful manner. It lives silently and singly or in pairs, and 

 although at present unknown, its nests and eggs probably do not differ greatly 

 from those of its near relatives. 



