135 



which sounds like sch-ioer, sch-iver. They were very fearless when their nest was attacked, the 

 female often entering the nest and refusing to move until the entrance was nearly reached, whilst 

 the male would take up his position a few feet above, examining everything that was going on. 



"All the nests found seemed to have been pecked out by the birds themselves, and in no 

 case was clay used to make a hole smaller. The old holes of the Great Spotted Woodpecker 

 were in hundreds in these trees, and though tenanted by Swifts and Titmice, the Nuthatches 

 never used them. The holes were seldom neatly rounded, and in one instance only the sides of 

 a large crack were pecked away. The nest is composed chiefly of strips of bark from the 

 Mediterranean heath (which the birds themselves pull off) and moss, a few feathers, and a small 

 quantity of hair. The sides of the cavity well padded, so as to form a cup. 



"The eggs, five or six, when blown, are white thickly speckled with deep red; they are 

 about the size of those of the Great Titmouse." 



Mr. Whitehead has kindly presented me with a pair of this Nuthatch, and also with two eggs, 

 which latter resemble those of Sitta Jcrueperi, but are a trine smaller and much more boldly and 

 profusely spotted and speckled with dark red. 



Sitta wlriteheadi differs but little from Sitta villosa, the latter species having the black on 

 the crown extended to the upper part of the back, the breast and abdomen being warm buff, and 

 not white, but otherwise they do not differ. Sitta canadensis differs in having a black patch on 

 the side of the head which extends over the ear-coverts and part of the sides of the neck, and the 

 whole of the underparts, except the chin, are rusty brown. 



The specimens figured and described are in my own collection. 



In the preparation of the above article I have examined the following specimens: — 



E Mus. H. E. Dresser, 

 a, <?,*,?. Corsica, May 27th, 1884 (J. Whitehead). 



