15,? 
DALMA'l'IAX XU’!'1I A'lAMl. 
The Dalmatian Nutliatcli is an inhabitant of the 
conntry from nhich its Englisli name is derived. Passing 
along the shores of the Adriatic Ave find it in the Ionian 
Islands and Greece commonly. Thence avc trace it to 
Smyrna, and along the shores of Asiatic Turkey to 
Syria, where it is very common, that country also giving 
its specific and French name. Dr. Leith Adams informs 
me that it is pretty common in Affghanistan. 
The three European Nuthatches form an interesting 
illustration of the adaptation of structure to climate of 
nearly allied species. The present bird is very much 
larger and stronger than the European form. As will 
be observed farther on, its habits differ, inasmuch as it 
does not frequent trees, but rocks and ruins. The 
northern form and that which inhabits Britain are so 
closely allied to each other, that the best ornithologists 
have denied, and I think with good reason, their specific 
distinction. But the three birds have all a strongly- 
marked character in common. The coloration varies, 
but it is disposed after the same plan, the blue slate 
back, and the dirty white or russet abdomen, and the 
characteristic black mark on the side of the head of 
each. These are instances in Avhich there can be no 
objection urged as to the possibility, or rather the strong 
probability, of a common origin. But then we have no 
evidence of the stronger bird in the south, or the weaker 
one in the north, diverging into any different forms. 
The variation is adaptive and final, and the species or 
varieties are constant. 
“Few birds,” says the Bev. H. B. Tristram, in his 
account of the Birds of Southern Palestine, (Ibis, vol. 
i., p. 27,) “have interested me more than the Dalmatian 
Nuthatch. I had good opportunities of observing its 
habits in the south of the Morea in winter, and I 
