PASSERES-CERTHID.E 
SITTA. 
49 
black, bordered behind with white. Outer tail-feathers black, tipped and barred with white. 
Sides of the head and beneath pure white. Female: Crown dark leaden ; neck glossy black. 
Young, without black on the head. Length, 5 - 0-5'5. 
This industrious little bird derives its popular name from the hatches or hammerings which 
he makes on hard nuts, in search of larvae within. It is a resident in this State, as I have 
seen it during the whole winter. It lays from four to six whitish eggs, spotted with brown 
at the larger end. Its food consists mainly of spiders, ants, etc. Its geographical range is 
from Mexico to Maine. 
T1IE RED-BELLIED NUTHATCH. 
SiTTA CANADENSIS. 
PLATE XL. FIG. 88. 
(STATE COLLECTION. Male and female.) 
Sitta canadensis* Linnjeus, Syst. Nat. 12 eel. p. 177 (young).. 
Sitta varia. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 1, p. 43, pi. 2, fig. 4. 
S. canadensis. Bonaparte, Obs. No. CO, and App.; Ann. Lyc. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 9G. Audubon, fol.pl. 105; 
Orn. Biog. Vol. 2, p. 24, and Vol. 5, p. 474. 
Red-bellied Nuthatch. Nuttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 1, p. 583. Audubon, Birds of Am. Vol. 4, p. 179, pi. 248. 
Sitta cajiadensis. Giraud, Birds of Long island, p. 1C8. 
Characteristics. Smaller than the preceding, lead-colored. Head, neck and eye-stripe 
black ; rust-colored beneath. Bill short. Length, four inches. 
Description. Bill straight, short, entire. The first quill shorter than the fifth. Wings 
reaching nearly to the tip of the tail, which is slightly rounded. 
Color. Frontlet, cheeks, shoulder and line over the eye white : a line of black passes 
through the eye to the shoulder. Legs, feet and claw’s dull greenish yellow. Chin white. 
Beneath light rust-color or reddish. Lateral tail-feathers barred with w'hite near the end, and 
tipped with pale brown. Female : Crown brownish black ; beneath light reddish. 
Length, 4-0-4*5. 
This hardy little northern bird appears in this State in the autumn and spring, as it passes 
to and fro on its migrations. It feeds on insects and the oily seeds of the evergreens, and 
ranges from 38° to 52° north. Its history is as yet very imperfect, but from its resemblance 
in appearance and general habits to the preceding, it may be presumed to be similar to that 
species. 
[Fauna — Part 2.] 
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