374 



U. S. p. E. E. EXP. AHD SUETEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENEEAL EEPOET. 



Sub-Family SITTINAE. 



SITTA, Linnaeus. 



Sitta, LiNKAEus, Syst. Nat. 1735. (Agassiz.) 



Ch. — Bill subulate, acutely pointed, compressed, about as long as the head ; culmen and commissure nearly straight ; 

 gonys convex and ascending; nostrils covered by a tuft of bristles directed forward. Tarsi stout, scutellate, about equal to the 

 middle toe, much shorter than the hinder, the claw of which is half the total length. Outer lateral toe much longer than 

 inner, and nearly equal to the middle. Tail very short, broad, and nearly even ; the feathers soft and truncate. Wings reach- 

 ing nearly to the end of the tail, long and acute, the first primary one-third of (or less) the third, or longest. 



This genus differs from Sittella in having the bill entire, not notched, the tail longer, &c. 

 There are several species in the United States, which may be arranged as follows : 



a. Grown black. 



Pure white beneath. Bill stout ;S^. cardlinensis. 



Similar. Bill slender >S'. aculeata. 



Brownish rusty beneath, a black stripe through the eye ,S^. canadensis. 



h. Crown not black. 



Crown light brown. Hind toe much longer than the middle one S. pusiUa. 



Crown greenish plumbeous. Hind toe about equal to the middle one ;S'. pygmaea. 



Comparative measurements of species. 



SITTA CAKOLmENSIS, Gmelin, 



White-bellied Nuthatch. 



Sitta europaea, var. y, carolinensis, Gmelin, I, 1788, .440. 



Sitta carolinensis, Latham, Ind. Orn. 1, 1790, 263.— Wilson, Am. Om. 1, 1808, 40 ; pi.— Bon. Obs. Wils. 1825.— Ib. 

 List 1838.— Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 227.— Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 581.— Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 

 1834, 299 : V, 1839, 473 ; pi. 152.— Ib. Birds Amer. IV, 1842, 175 ; pi. 247. 

 Sitta melanocephala, Vieillot, Gal. 1, 1834, 171 ; pi. clxxi. 

 Sp. Ch. — Above ashy blue. Top of head and neck black. Under parts and sides of head to a short distance above the eye 

 white. Under tail coverts and tibial feathers brown ; concealed primaries white. Bill stout. 

 Length, about 6 inches ; wing, about 3^. 

 Hab. — Eastern North America to the high central plains. West of this replaced by S. aculeata. 



