139 



Sitta albifrons, Tacz. (Bull. Soc. Zool. Fr. 1882, p. 385), is characterized by having the fore- 

 head and a broad superciliary stripe pure white, and a narrow white band crosses the wings, and 

 the underparts are pure silky white, with but very little chestnut on the flanks. Taczanowski gives 

 the habitat of this form as Kamtschatka ; and Dr. Stejneger received a specimen from the Kurile 

 Islands. In my series of Asiatic Nuthatches I have a very typical specimen of this form which 

 ■was obtained by Mr. H. Whitely at Hakodadi on the 22nd November, 1865. This specimen 

 has a broad white band across the forehead joining the white superciliary stripe, the larger 

 wing-coverts are tipped with white, forming a white band across the wing, the underparts are 

 pure silky white, with but a slight trace of chestnut on the flanks, and there is a large extent of 

 white on the tail. The measurements are : culmen 0'75 inch, wing 3T2, tail T75. 



Sitta amurensis, Swinhoe (P. Z. S. 1871, p. 350), Gadow, op. cit. p. 345. Differs from Sitta 

 uralensis in having the abdomen rufescent buff and flanks chestnut. — Hab. The Ussuri country 

 from the Amoor to the coasts of the Sea of Japan. Of this form I have two males, obtained by 

 Mr. Jankovski at Sidemi, on the Ussuri, both of which have a faint superciliary line, and one 

 has the chestnut on the flanks but faintly marked, whereas the other has it strongly developed. 

 They measure: culmen 07 inch, wing 3T5 and 3'22, tail T65 and T7. 



Sitta clara (Sitta amurensis clara, Stejneger, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 1886, p. 392). 

 Dr. Stejgener has separated this form as having the abdomen pale rufescent or creamy buff 

 as in Sitta amurensis, but the flanks also creamy buff and not chestnut. Two specimens in 

 my collection, both males from Sapporo, Yesso, agree closely with Dr. Stejneger's description, 

 and have only the faintest trace of a chestnut tinge on the flanks ; both have the forehead 

 slightly hoary, and a slight white superciliary line. They measure : culmen 072 and 07 inch, 

 wing 3T5 and 3*2, tail T52 and T55. According to Dr. Stejneger this form has only been 

 found on Yesso, Japan. 



Sitta neumayeri, Michah. (Gadow, op. cit. p. 345). Inhabits Greece, Asia Minor, and 

 Northern Persia, and is said to occur also in Spain. Full particulars respecting this species 

 are given in the 'Birds of Europe,' iii. pp. 183-187, and I may add that Sitta rupicola, 

 Blanford, is not specifically separable from it. 



Sitta cwsia, Meyer and Wolf (Gadow, op. cit. p. 347). Inhabits Great Britain, Europe south 

 of the Baltic, and the southern portion of the Western Palsearctic Region generally. Specimens 

 from Southern Europe and Asia Minor are much brighter and clearer coloured than others from 

 Northern Europe, and especially from Great Britain. Mr. Seebohm (B. of Jap. Emp. p. 92) has 

 separated as a subspecies a form which, he says, inhabits Pomerania, the Baltic Provinces, Poland, 

 and the Crimea, to which he gave the name Sitta ccesia homeyeri, but did not publish any 

 description. Mr. Seebohm has very courteously lent me two specimens of this form, which, 

 however, so far as I can judge, differ entirely from Sitta cwsia, and are nothing else but 

 ordinary Sitta europcea, being absolutely inseparable from the specimens in my own collection 

 from both Sweden and Norway, above referred to, which have the abdomen tinged with cream- 

 colour. Mr. Seebohm's two specimens measure as follows : — Male, near Danzig, 4th May, 1882, 

 culmen 0*8 inch, wing 3'3, tail 17, tarsus 075 ; female, Moscow, 4th October, culmen 0'8 inch, 

 wing 3-35, tail T75, tarsus 08. A specimen, however, from Pomerania, in the collection of 

 Rev. H. H. Slater, has the underparts much darker, nearly as well coloured as in average 



