1 



82 SITTID^, NUTHATCHES. GEN. 15, 16. 



olive gray ; paler (whitish, etc.) below. Both species are western ; these and 



yiuripanis flavice2}s build the curious pensile nests above mentioned. 



\.^\ ■ Least Titmouse. Crown dark brown, unlike back. Pacific coast to 



''*' Sierra Nevada. Aud., ii, 160, pi. 130; Bd., 397; Coop., 48. . minimus. 



f , .. Leaden Titmouse. Crown like back. Iris brown or yellow. Arizona. 



Bd.,398; Coop., 49 plumbeus. 



15. Genus AURIPAETJS Baird. 



%■! Yellovj-Jieaded Titmouse. Ashy ; paler below ; head all yellow (this color 

 wanting in the young) ; bend of wing chestnut ; 4^- ; wing and tail about 2^. 

 Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, South and Lower California. Ed., 400, and 

 Rev., 85; Coop., 51 flaviceps. 



Family SITTID^, Nuthatclies. 



These birds differ in so many respects from either Certhiidce or ParWoe, with both 

 of which they have been associated, that I shall give them independent family rank. 

 Chars. — Bill subcjdindrical, tapering, compressed, slender, acute, nearly or about 

 as long as the head, eulmen and commissure about straight, gonj^s long, convex, 

 ascending (giving a sort of recurved look to a really straight bill). Nostrils 

 rounded, concealed by bristly tufts. Wings long, pointed, with 10 primaries, the 

 1st very short or spurious ; tail much shorter than wings, broad, soft, nearly even ; 

 tarsus shorter than the middle toe and claw, scutellate in front ; toes all long, 

 with large, much curved, compressed claws ; 1st toe and claw about equal to the 

 3d ; 2d and 4th toes, very unequal in length ; plumage compact ; body flattened ; 

 tongue hornjr, acute, barbed. Nuthatches are amongst the most nimble and adroit 

 of creepers ; they scramble about and hang in every conceivable attitude, head 

 downwards as often as otherwise. This is done, too, without any help from the 

 tail — the whole tarsus being often applied to the support. They are chieflj^ insec- 

 tivorous, but feed also on hard fruits ; and get their English name from their habit 

 of sticking nuts and seeds in cracks in bark, and hammering awa}' with the bill till 

 they break the shell. They are very active and restless little birds, quite sociable, 

 often going in troops, whicli keep up a continuous noise ; lay 4-6 white, spotted 

 eggs, in hollows of trees. The family is a small one, of less than thirtj^ species, 

 among them a single remarkable Madagascan form, Hypherpes., a genus peculiar 

 to Australia (Sittella), and another confined to New Zealand (Acanthisitta) : but 

 it is chiefly represented by the genus Sitta, with 12 or 14 species, 8 or 9 of Europe 

 and Asia, and the following of our country : — 



16. G-enus SITTA Linnaeus. 



* White below, flanks and under tail coverts washed with rustj^ brown ; ashy- 

 blue above, middle tail feathers the same, other 

 tail feathers black, spotted with white ; crown 

 and nape glossy black, ivithout stripes; wings 

 varied with black, white and the color of the 

 back. Large ; 5i-6 ; wing 3}, tail 2. 



^'f Fig. •-'(!. White-bellied Niithatcii; nat. size. WMte-belUed NiUhotch . As above ; bill 

 over 15-100 deep at base. In the young aud many ? 's, black of head 



