376 



F. C. R. Jourdain. 



district in 1900. No nests were however discovered between 

 1884 and 1907, when I found 4 occupied nests and took 

 17 eggs, while in the following season several more nests 

 were found and 11 eggs taken. Giglioli's theory that the one 

 small colony in Corsica is the last stronghold of a vanishing 

 species is not borne out by my experience. At least three if 

 not more, colonies exist in pine forests in Corsica, in widely 



Nesting place of Sitta canadensis tohiteheadi Sharpe. 



separated localities, but the extent of forest is so great and 

 the bird so inconspicuous that it has probably been over- 

 looked. Whitehead's field notes are on the whole very accurate, 

 but the nest hole is by no means invariably picked out by the 

 bird, which often makes use of an old. hole of Dendrocopus 

 major. At the nest the old birds are extraordinarily tame 

 and confiding, and will perch within a yard of the observer. 

 Average size of 31 eggs, 17.19 X 12.94, Max. 18.5 X 13.3, 

 Min. 16 X 12.5 and 16.5 X 12. i mm. Full clutches may be 

 taken from about May 10 to 28, but mostly about May 20. 



