52 DALMATIAN NUTHATCH. 



INSECTIVOR^E. 



Family CERTHIIDJE. ( Bonaparte. ) 



Genus Sitta. ( Linnceus.J 



Generic Characters. — Beak straight, medium size, cylindrical, conic, double 

 edged at the point. Nostrils basal, rounded, and partly hidden by hair and 

 short feathers. Tongue short, pointed, and horny. Feet with three toes in 

 front and one behind, the outer being joined at its base to the middle 

 one; the hind toe very long, and armed with a long curved claw. Wings 

 medium size; the first quill very short, the second shorter than the third 

 or fourth, which are the longest in the wing. Tail composed of twelve 

 quills, short, flexible, and square at the end. 



DALMATIAN NUTHATCH. 



Sitta syriaca. 



Sitta syriaca, Ehrenberg. Bonaparte. Gray; H. L., 



No. 2485. 



" neumayeri, Michaelles. 



" rufescens, Gould. 



" rupestris, Temminck; Man. 3, p. 287. 



" saxatilis, Schinz. 



Sitelle de Syrie, Of the French. 



Syrische Spechtmeise, Of the Germans. 



Specific Characters. — Flanks and under tail coverts russet, the latter not 

 spotted with white; tail unicolorous slaty blue, the most outward feathers 

 slightly tipped with pale russet. Length six inches and two fifths; carpus 

 to tip three inches; tarsus one inch; beak eleven lines. 



The Dalmatian Nuthatch is an inhabitant of the country from which 

 its English name is derived. Passing along the shores of the Adriatic 

 we find it in the Ionian Islands and Greece commonly. Thence we 



