SlTTIDiE, NUTHATCHES. CEETHIIDiE, CREEPERS. GEN. IG. 83 



restricted to nape, or altogether absent. Eastern United States to the 

 Plains. WiLS., i, p. 40; Nutt., i, 581; Aud., iv, 175, pi. 247; Bd., 



374 CAROLINENSIS. 



Var. ACULEATA. Slender-hilled Nuthatch. Exactly like the last, except slen- 

 derer bill ; not over 15-100 deep at base. Plains to Pacific. Bd., 875 ; Coop., 54. 



** Rusty brown below, nearly uniform ; back bluer than in the last, head ivith 

 white strij)es, crown black or like back ; tail as in the last ; wings plain ; medium 

 in size ; 4^ to nearly 5 ; wing 2§, tail H. 



gCj Red-bellied Nuthatch. ^ with crown glossy black, bordered by white 

 ]('*> stripes meeting across forehead, below these a black bar through eye to 



hind nape, below this, and the chin, white. ? Avith croAvn like back, and the 

 lateral black stripe merely dusky ; young with no 

 black on the crown and lateral stripes obscure. 

 North America, but rather northerly. WiLS., i, 

 40, pi. 2 ; Nutt., i, 583 ; Aud., iv, 179, pi. 248 ; 



Bd., 376 CANADENSIS. 



***Pale rnsty or brownish white below; wings, ^.^^ ^^^ Eed-b^ued Nuthatch 

 tail and back, much as in the last ; crown and nape natural size. 



broivn to below ej-es, the lower border darker ; head without white stripes. Small- 

 est ; 4, or less, long; wing 2j, tail lA. 



Bvoion-headed Nuthatch. Crown clear hair-brown ; a distinct little 

 whitish spot on nape ; middle tail feathers like back, with no black, and 

 little or no white at base. South Atlantic States, strictly. WiLS., ii, 105, 

 pi. 15; Nutt., i, 584; Aud., ii, 181, pi. 249; Bd., 377, . . pusilla. 



Pygmy Nuthatch. Crown dull olive brown, its lateral borders blackish; 

 the nuchal whitish spot wanting or obscure ; middle tail feathers white at 

 base, and there black-edged on outer web. This species is apt to be quite 

 brownish underneath, instead of merely muddy white, as in the last; but 

 both vary much in this respect. Rocky Mountains to Pacific, United States. 

 Aud., iv, 184, pi. 250; Bd., 378; Coop., 55 PTGMiEA. 



Family CERTHIID-aS. Creepers. 



A very small, well-marked group, of about a dozen species, and four or five 

 genera, which fall in two sections, commonljr called subfamilies ; one of these, 

 Tichodromincc, is represented by the well known European Creeper, T. muraria, and 

 several, chiefly Australian, species of the genus Qlimacteria ; while the genus Cer- 

 thea, with five or six species or varieties, and one or two allied genera (all but one 

 Old World) constitutes the 



Subfccmily CERTHIIN^IS. Typical Creepers. 



Our species may be known on sight, among North American Oscines, by its 

 rigid, acuminate tail-feathers, like a woodpecker's. Besides: — bill about equal to 

 bead, extremely slender, sharp and decurved ; nostrils exposed ; tarsus shorter 

 than 3d toe and claw, which is connate for the whole of the 1st joint, with both 

 2d and 4th toe; 1st toe shorter than its claw; claws all much curved and very 

 sharp ; tarsus scutellate ; wings 10-primaried, 1st very short, not one-half the 2d, 



