co 
2 
This, however, is in all probability an unusually large bird, as two others from the same locality measure 
as follows :—culmen 0:95 and 1 inch, wing 3°3 and 3'5, tail 2-2 and 2°4, tarsus 0°98 and 1, one being in 
general size apparently smaller than the specimen from Macedonia above referred to. 
Young. Differs from the adult in being rather duller in colour. 
Tuts Nuthatch, which might from its habits be justly called the Rock-Nuthatch, is strictly a 
southern species, ranging throughout Southern Europe into Afghanistan. It has not been 
recorded from the south of France; but Mr. Howard Saunders met with it in Spain, and 
writes as follows:—‘ When searching for the breeding-place of Cotyle rupestris near Archena, 
I saw both this bird and its unmistakable nest; but it was perfectly impossible to get near its 
haunts with a gun, and it would not come down to me. With great difficulty, and after a most 
agonizing climb over the sharpest of rocks, I got within a few yards of the nest; but there was 
a chasm between me and the desired prize which nothing without wings could pass.” 
It has not been observed in Italy; and its occurrence in Sicily rests upon the uncorroborated 
evidence of Malherbe ; Salvadori considers that the specimen figured by Bonaparte in his ‘ Fauna 
Italica’” really came from Dalmatia. In Greece it is common; and, according to Linder- 
mayer, it is resident there, frequenting the rocks, and never seen on a tree. It is said not to 
occur on the Cyclades; but Lord Lilford met with it on the Ionian Islands, and writes that it is 
‘common in certain suitable localities in Epirus, particularly amongst the stony and precipitous 
hills near Santa Quaranta, where I have frequently observed it in small parties of five or six, 
flitting about and busily examining the holes and crevices of the rocks. It isa lively and restless 
bird, and has a note entirely different from that of the Common Nuthatch (Sitta cwsia). I never 
observed this bird to perch on a tree or shrub, but almost invariably found them on the most 
exposed and barren hill-sides.” 
Fritsch records it from Montenegro; and Professor yon Nordmann observed it in several 
parts of Abasia and Ghouriel, climbing about the rocks, and thinks that it is also found in the 
Crimea. Dr. Radde, who has lately visited us, assures us that he often heard its note in the 
Caucasus, and hopes soon to be able to procure and send us specimens from there. Canon 
Tristram met with it in the hill country of Judea and in the Wady Hamam, where, however, it 
is scarce and local, always, however, attracting attention by its restlessness and loud call. In the 
grand gorge of the Leontes he found it particularly abundant. Further south than Asia Minor 
and Palestine we do not hear of this Nuthatch ; but to the eastward it extends into Afghanistan, 
where, according to Mr. Blyth, it is a common species. 
In its habits, and especially in its mode of nidification, the Syrian Nuthatch differs 
widely from Sitta cwsia and Sitta europea. Unlike those species, which are always found on 
trees, this bird frequents the barren rocks, never, so far as we can ascertain, going on to a tree; 
and instead of plastering up a suitable hole, like our Common Nuthatch, it builds a nest of mud 
formed like that of a Swallow, but closed up excepting the funnel-shaped entrance. Our friend 
Dr. Kriiper has published some most interesting notes respecting the habits and nidification of 
this bird in Greece, from which we translate the following extracts:—‘ During the first few 
weeks of my stay in Greece I was not sufficiently well acquainted with the notes of the birds 
found there to know each species at a distance by its call-note or song. When I came near a 
