THE BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH. 181 



dorsal outline very slightly arched, the edges sharp towards the point; lower 

 mandible smaller, of equal length, straight. Nostrils basal, round, half- 

 closed by a membrane, partially covered by the frontal feathers. The 

 general form is short and compact. Feet rather strong, the hind toe stout, 

 with a strong hooked claw; the claws arched, compressed, acute. 



Plumage soft, blended, with little gloss. Wings rather short, broad, the 

 second and third primaries longest. Tail short, broad, even, of twelve 

 rounded feathers. 



Bill black. Iris brown. Feet and claws flesh-coloured, tinged with 

 yellowish-green. The general colour of the plumage above is a light leaden- 

 grey, beneath pale brownish-red. The top of the head is bluish-black. A 

 long white line passes over the eye; a broader line of black from the bill to 

 the eye, and beyond it down the neck; the throat white. Primary quills 

 dusky, margined with greyish-blue; tail-feathers blackish, the two middle 

 ones of the general colour of the back; the lateral ones white towards the 

 end. 



Length 4^ inches; extent of wings 8; bill along the ridge T 5 2? gap-line ^. 



Adult Female. 



There is scarcely any perceptible external difference between the sexes, 

 the lower parts of the female being merely a little paler, and the black of 

 the head not so deep. 



THE BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH. 



-i^Sitta pusilla, Lath. 



PLATE CCXLIX.— Male and Female. 



Actively and most diligently employed is this little rover ever found in 

 our pine woodlands of the Southern Districts, where it resides all the year, 

 and beyond which it seldom extends, few being ever seen to the eastward of 

 Maryland. Those large tracts of sandy soil that occupy the greater portion 

 of the Floridas, Georgia, and the Carolinas, appear to suit its habits best. It 

 is rather rare in Louisiana, and none go so far as Kentucky. It is the 

 smallest species of Nuthatch as yet found in the United States. Its notes 



