THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 203 



toe being connected basally to the middle one as far as the first 

 joint. The bill varies much in shape, according to the mode in 

 which the food is chiefly obtained ; but the tongue does not aid 

 in procuring it, being of the common structure, thin, horny, and 

 inextensible ; the tip of the upper mandible rarely shows so much 

 as a trace of emargination. They feed both on insects and 

 oleaginous seeds, more or less of one or the other; and the 

 stomach is a tolerably muscular gizzard. All the genera have a 

 well-defined geographical distribution. 



The Certhiidce may be, first, most conveniently divided into 

 those having a short, even, flexible tail, which is not employed in 

 supporting the body (as the flexible tail of the Wryneck some- 

 times is) ; and those having a cuneated tail with stiffened points, 

 as in the Woodpeckers. 



A. With short, even, unpointed tails. 

 Subfam. Sitting (Nuthatches). 



A group of small birds, from the size of a Lark downward to 

 that of a Wren ; with wings reaching nearly or quite to the end 

 of the short tail ; a moderately long, awl-shaped beak of con- 

 siderable strength ; and strong feet, having the hind toe especially 

 much elongated, and the claws of all the toes stout, compressed, 

 and equally curved. They traverse the bark of trees in every 

 direction, up or down a perpendicular bole, or on the lower surface 

 of a horizontal bough ; and the bill is either straight or inclines 

 to be a little recurved, being adapted either for striking with much 

 force, or for raising and detaching scales of bark to get at the 

 insects which lurk beneath. 



Two genera are recognised — Sitta, with stout subcylindrical 

 bill, straight or with but a very slight tendency to recurve, and 

 wings not reaching to the end of the tail, which is peculiar to 

 the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, being in India 

 confined to the hills, — and Sittella, with weaker and much com- 

 pressed bill, distinctly recurved, and having an emarginated tip to 

 the upper mandible, and the wings reaching quite to the end of 

 the tail, which is peculiar to Australia :* the former, however, 

 comprises Dendrophila, a subgenus of more tropical abode, 



* With the Acanthisittce of New Zealand I am imacquainted ; but Sylvia 

 citrina and S. longijjes, Lath., are here placed, which are not described to have 

 stiffened tails, and the name would seem therefore to refer to the form of the 

 beak. 



