44 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Practically confined to N.E. of Scotland, having bred 

 only in Moray, Ross, Inverness, Elgin, Banff, Aberdeen, 

 and (probably) Perthshire ; a rare straggler to South 

 Scotland. In England examples have been recorded from 

 Cumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Kent, Middlesex 

 and Hants, and Mr. J. Whitaker tells me he has one taken 

 in Notts. In Scotland breeding hole is bored in decayed 

 fir-stumps ; nest formed of moss, feathers, and rabbits' 

 fur. Eggs : usually 5 ; white boldly spotted towards 

 larger end with red ; size '65 by -50 : laid early in May. 



Family Sittidee. 



GENUS XXII. SITTA, Linnaeus (1766) 

 Bill moderately long, straight, strong, somewhat conical. 

 Tongue short, tip bristly ; nostrils basal, concealed by 

 small, hairy feathers ; wings fairly long ; tail short, even ; 

 tarsi short ; feet strong ; claws hooked. 



55. Sitta esesia, Wolf. NUTHATCH. 



Hab. Temperate Europe, north to Baltic and England; 

 also Asia Minor and North Africa. 



Male : above blue-grey, with a black stripe from base of 

 bill to side of neck, passing through eye ; primaries and 

 centre tail-feathers greyish-brown ; outer tail-feathers 

 blackish, tipped with grey and barred with , white ; chin 

 and cheeks whitish ; under parts buffish-yellow ; flanks 

 and under tail-coverts chiefly dark reddish-brown ; bill 

 blackish, paler at base ; tarsi yellowish-brown. Length 

 about 575. Female : plumage duller. 



Resident and distributed over most parts of England and 

 Wales, north to Yorkshire ; rare in northern counties, a 

 straggler to Scotland, and unknown in Ireland. Fairly 

 common in older woods, parks, and forests, but very scarce 



