114 



.VOHTK AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Sitta cnroti-.^nsis 



(JkNUS sitta, LiNNyKUM. 



.V/«(/, LiN.N.tars, Syst. Nat. 1735. (Agaiisiz.) 



Okn. Ciiak. Rill subulate, acutely pointed, compressed, ii))out as long as the head; 



culnien and commi.'isure nenily 

 sti-nij^ht; gonys convex and as- 

 cending ; nostrils covered by a 

 tuil of bristles directed forward. 

 Tarsi stout, soutellate, about equal 

 to the middle toe, much .shorter 

 than the hinder, the claw of which 

 is half the total length. Outer 

 lateral toe much longer than in- 

 ner, and nearly ecjual to the mi<l- 

 dle. Tail very .short, broad, and 

 nearly even ; the feathers soft and 

 truncate. Wings reaching nearly 

 to the end of the tail, long and 



acute, the first primary one third of (or Ie,s.s) the third, or longest. Iris brown. Nest in 



holes of trees. Eggs white, .spotted with reddish. 



Tlie North American species may be arranged as follows : — 



A. Crown lilack. , 



S. carolinensiB. Belly white ; no bl.ack stripe through eye. 



Bill, .70 long, .17 d(>cp. Black spots on tertials sharply defined. 

 IJab. Eastern rroviiice Norll\ America . . . var. euroliui-n.iis. 



Bill, .80 long, .1'' deep. Black .spots on tertials obsolete ITnh. Middle 

 anil Western Pro-, nee United States, south to Cordova, Mexico, var. ac aleida. 

 S. canadensis. Bell ,■ brownish-rusty. A black stripe through eye. Hub. 

 Wliol<> of North America. 

 B« Crown not black. 



S. pusilla. Crown light hair-brown ; hind too much longer than tlu^ 

 middle one. Ihih. South Atlantic and (iulf States. 



S. pygmaea. Crown greenish-plumbeous ; hind toe about equal to middle 

 one. Hub. Wcstei'ii and Middle Province United States, south to Xalapa. 



Sitta carolinensis, var. carolinensis, Lath. 



WHITE-BELLIEO NTTTHATCH. 



SiUn etiropa-a, var. y, carolinensis, Gm. S. N. I, 1788, 440. Silta carolinensis. Lath. hid. 

 Orn. I, 17!>0, 2ti2 ; also of all other Anit'ri<'aii writers. —Ekichknbach, Handbucli, 

 Abh. II, 18.5S, 153, tab. d.xiii, figs. 35(i3, 35«4. — lUlun, Birds N. Am. 1858, 374, 

 pi. xxxiii, lig. 4 ; Kcview, 86. — Max. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 106. Sitta mclanocephtla, 

 ViKiM,. Gal. I, 1834, 171, 111. dxxi. i. 



Other figures: Wilson, Am. Oni. 1, pi. ii, fig. 3. — Auu. Oni. IJiog. II, pi. clii. — In. 

 B. A. IV, pi. ecxlvii. 



Sp. Char. Above ashy-blue. Top of head and neck black. Under parts and sides of 

 'lead to a short distance above the eye white. L'lider tail-coverLs and tibial feathers 



