BIEDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 437 



its claw distinctly shorter than the digit; outer toe (without claw) not 

 reaching beyond middle of penultimate phalanx of middle toe, the lat- 

 ter with claw projecting more than half its length bej^ond claw of 

 outer toe; tail much shorter than wing, even; outermost (tenth) pri- 

 mary less than one-third as long as ninth. 



Bill nearly as long as head (exposed culmen nearly, sometimes quite, 

 as long as tarsus), straight, but with at least the gonys perceptibly 

 convex, the latter more or less strongly ascending terminally. Nos- 

 tril roundish, or broadly oval, non-operculate, or with operculum 

 narrow and inconspicuous," more or less concealed by antrorse 

 bristly latero- frontal plumules. Rictal bristles obvious,* but rather 

 short, sometimes minute. Wing long, rather pointed; eighth, sev- 

 enth, and sixth, or ninth, eighth, seventh, and sixth primaries longest, 

 the ninth equal to or longer than fifth (equal to or longer than sixth 

 in Neositta), the tenth very small, never one-third as long as ninth, 

 sometimes scarcely longer than primary coverts; wing-tip longer than 

 bill or tarsus. Tail much less to a little more than half as long as 

 wing, even or slightly rounded, the rectrices broad, with rounded tip. 

 Tarsus about as long as exposed culmen (approximately one-fifth to 

 one-fourth as long as wing), decidedly longer than middle toe without 

 claw (sometimes equal to middle toe with claw), the acrotarsium dis- 

 tinctly scutellate, lateral toes very unequal, the inner (without claw) 

 reaching only to second joint of middle toe, the outer reaching to 

 middle of penultimate phalanx of middle toe; basal phalanx of middle 

 toe joined to outer toe for greater part or the whole of its length, to 

 inner toe adherent for a less distance; hallux (without claw) equal to 

 outer toe (without claw), its claw decidedly shorter than the digit. 



Coloration. — (1) In subfamily Sittinse above plain bluish gray or blue, 

 including upper tail-coverta, the pileum and hindneck, at least partly, 

 sometimes black or brown; the rectrices partly black and white (with- 

 out white in genus OallisiUa); under parts white, buff, cinnamomeous, 

 grayish, vinaceous, or chestnut, or with a mixture of two or more of 

 these colors. (2) In subfamily Neosittinee above gi'ay streaked with 

 dusky, or plain brown, the upper tail-coverts mostly white, the pileum 

 white, dark gray, or black; beneath whitish, with or without streaks; 

 inner webs of primaries with middle portion (broadlj') cinnamon- 

 rufous; outermost rectrices broadly tipped with white. 



Rmige. — Palaearctic Region (except African portion), Indo-Malayan 

 Region, and Nearctic Region; Australia, where represented by a dis- 

 tinct subfamily. 



o Except in the Australian genus Neositta Hellmayr [Sitlella Swainson, 1837, not of 

 Raflnesque, 1815), in which the operculum is very distinct (sometimes as broad as 

 the nostril itself), the wholly exposed nostril much narrower or more elongate than 

 in Sitta and CallisiUa ( Dendrophila) . 



b Except in Neositta. 



