SITTA SYRIACA. 



(EASTERN ROCK-NUTHATCH.) 



Sitta syriaca, Ehr. in Temm. Man. d'Orn. iii. p. 286 (1835). 



Sitta tephronota, Sharpe, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1872, x. p. 450. 



Sitta neumayeri (nee Michah.), Dresser, B. of Eur. iii. p. 183 (1872, partim). 



Terlsche, Turki {fide Radde & Walter). 



Figura nulla. 



Ad. S. neumayeri similis, sed major, corpore supra pallidiore, gula et colli lateribus albis isabellino tinctis, stria 

 in capitis lateribus longiore et magis extensa. 



Adult Male (Puli-Chatum, July 5th). Differs from Sitta neumayeri in being larger in size, the upper parts 

 paler, the throat and sides of the neck white with a creamy tinge, and the black stripe along the sides 

 of the head rather broader and extending further down the neck. Culmen T02 inch, wing 3 - 4, 

 tail 2*15, tarsus l - 05. 



Six specimens I have measured vary in size as follows: — Culmen 1*0 to T55 inch, wing 3"3 to 3'7, tail 

 2-05 to 2-25, tarsus TO to 1'05. 



This, the eastern form of our European Rock-Nuthatch, inhabits Transcaspia, Persia, Afghanistan, 

 and Turkestan, and differs from the western form in being larger and paler. 



When I wrote the article in the ' Birds of Europe ' in 1872, I did not separate Sitta syriaca 

 from S. neumayeri, but having since examined a larger series I find that the present species is 

 always larger and paler than S. neumayeri, and can always be distinguished from that species. 

 It does not appear to range so far west as Asia Minor, for all the specimens I have seen from 

 there are referable to S. neumayeri, and, judging from the measurements given by Dr. G. Radde 

 (Orn. Cauc. p. 301), Sitta neumayeri alone is found in the Caucasus. In Transcaspia, however, 

 the two forms meet ; and Mr. Zarudny states that he met the present form there, and found it 

 very common along the Atrek and the Jagly-Oloum to Douslou-Oloum, where it frequented the 

 rocky ravines bordering these rivers. Messrs. Radde and Walter obtained five specimens in 

 Transcaspia, for one of which I am indebted to Dr. Radde, and state that it was common and 

 resident in the mountains, and also found on the plains, on the steep river-banks, and in the 

 ravines, as, for instance, at Tschat on the Atrek, and it was also observed commonly on the outer 

 spurs of the Elbirin-Kyr. They add that it is a very noisy bird. In Persia, Mr. Blanford met 

 with it near Shiraz, but did not observe it in Baluchistan ; and on the rocky hill-sides of the 

 valleys penetrating the Elburz Mountains, north of Tehran, from about 6000 to 8000 feet above 

 the sea, he found Sitta neumayeri common, and also obtained a specimen of this, the small form, 

 from Kohriid near Ispahan, and another from Shiraz. 



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