26 RED-BELLIED NUTHATCH. 



The general form is short and compact. Feet rather strong, the hind toe 

 stout, with a strong hooked claw ; the claws arched, compressed, acute. 



Plumage soft, blended, with Httle gloss. Wings rather short, broad, 

 the second and third primaries longest. Tail short, broad, even, of twelve 

 rounded feathers. 



Bill black. Iris brown. Feet and claws flesh-coloured, tinged with 

 yellowish-green. The general colour of the plumage above is a light 

 leaden-grey, beneath pale brownish-red. The top of the head is bluish- 

 black. A long white hne passes over the eye ; a broader line of black 

 from the bill to the eye, and beyond it down the neck ; the throat white. 

 Primary quills dusky margined with greyish-blue ; tail-feathers blackish, 

 the two middle ones of the general colour of the back ; the lateral ones 

 white towards the end. 



Length 4| inches ; extent of wings 8; bill along the ridge ^^ ; gap- 

 line ^5. 



Adult Female. Plate CV. Fig. 2. 



There is scarcely any perceptible external difference between the sexes, 

 the lower parts of the female being merely a little paler, and the black of 

 the head not so deep. 



