414 MR. R. B. SHARPE ON WHITEHEAD'S NUTHATCH. [Julie 17, 



2. Further Notes on Whitehead's Nuthatch. By R. 

 Bowdler Sharpe, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c, Department of 

 Zoology, British Museum. 



[Keceived June 4, 1881.] 



(Plate XXXVI.) 



Mr. John Whitehead, to whom we are indebted for the discovery 

 of this Corsican Nuthatch, which I have named after him, has 

 sent me a specimen of the adult female, and I am thus enabled to 

 give an exact description of the species, the adult male having been 

 exhibited by me at a previous meeting of the Society (May 20). 



Sitta whiteheadi. (Plate XXXVI.) 



Sitta whiteheadi, Sharpe, antea, pp. 233, 329. 



Adult male. General colour above slaty blue, the lesser and 

 median coverts like the back ; the greater coverts blackish with light 

 edgings of slaty blue ; bastard-wing feathers blackish ; primary- 

 coverts and quills blackish brown, externally slaty blue, paler on the 

 latter ; the inner secondaries externally slaty blue ; two centre tail- 

 feathers slaty blue, the remainder black, the three outer feathers 

 slaty blue at the tips, these terminal spots decreasing in extent 

 across the inner web, where they terminate in a white edging, the 

 outer web also narrowly fringed with white near the end ; crown of 

 head and occiput black, disappearing on the nape ; a line of greyish 

 white across the base of the forehead extending backwards in a broad 

 eyebrow as far as the nape ; feathers round the eye whitish ; lores 

 black, as well as a broad line along the upper edge of the ear-coverts, 

 the latter slightly spotted with white where they adjoin the eye ; 

 remainder of ear-coverts, cheeks and throat dull white, the latter 

 slightly washed with isabelline ; under surface of body ashy isa- 

 belline ; the under tail-coverts edged with white ; sides of body and 

 thighs somewhat washed with ashy ; axillaries and under wing- 

 coverts like the breast, the edge of the wing whiter. Total length 

 4 - 6 inches, culmen 065, wing 2/5, tail 1*4, tarsus 0'65. 



Adult female. Differs from the male in having the head slaty 

 blue like the back, the feathers of the crown slightly mottled with 

 blackish bases ; the dark streak through the eye not quite so pro- 

 nounced as in the male, and more blackish brown. Total length 4*6 

 inches, culmen 065, wing 2'75, tail 1*45, tarsus 07. 



The nearest allies of Sitta whiteheadi are undoubtedly S. Jcrueperi 

 and S. villosa. It resembles the first of these in its small size, but 

 differs in having the entire crown and nape black in the male, instead 

 of only the fore part of the crown, while both sexes are at once dis- 

 tinguished by the want of the chestnut band on the fore neck, 

 which is the leading characteristic of S. Jcrueperi. 



To S. villosa and S. canadensis, the Corsican Nuthatch bears a 



