NUTHATCHES. 67 



LESSON V. 



Family of ErruiRosTREs. — Nuthatches. — Crccjiers. — Humming 



Birds. 

 Family of Syndactyl^e. — Bee-eaters. — Kinrj fishers. — Hornhilk. 

 Order of Scansori^. — Zoological Characters — Woodpeckers. 



— Wrynecks. — Cuckoos. — Toucans. — Parrots. — Habits, {Mac- 



caivs, Paroquets, Parrots properly so called ) 



FAMILY OF TENUmOSTRES. 



1. Birds of this family have a slender, elongated beak without 

 a .notch, and which is sometimes straight, and sometimes arcuate. 

 {Plate ^,fg. H.) The principal genera of this family are the 

 Nuthatches, Creepers, Humming-birds, and Hoopoes, which may 

 he recognised by the following characters : 



(Genera.3 



r <. Straight, ^ . . .. ) Nuthatches. 



1 Moderate, and <| 



/Arcuate, .. ^ . ^ | Creepers. 



Tenuirostres, [K-fX''^r^' i 



'having the \ ^'^^\ ^"^. ^^^^y \ 



beak I ., , , extensible. \ 



HUMMING-BIRHS. 



very 



Very long and J 

 V slender, tongue ' 



I 



Short, and 1 

 lying close at I xr p.^g 

 the bottom of f^oo^oEs, 

 the throat. J 



"2. The Nuthatches f — Sitta, — -have a moderate, straight, 

 depressed beak, which is cylindrical, conical, and trenchant at 

 the point ; their nostrils are partly covered by hairs directed for- 

 wards, and their tongue is short and very slightly protractile. 

 They climb with agility in all directions, live on insects and 

 ■nestle in the trunks of trees. The Common Emvpean Nuthatch, 

 — Sitta Europcea, — ^^is of a bluish ash-colour. It is sedentary, 

 and inhabits the lofty forests. The male joins the female in the 

 spring, in constructing the nest ; they establish themselves in a 

 'hole in a tree, and if the hole is too large, they reduce it with 

 mud, which circumstance has acquired for it the name of 

 Mason-pie; they line the interior with a thin bed of moss, upon 

 which the female lays from five to seven grayish eggs, marked 



1. What are the characters of birds of the family of Tenuirostres ? 

 What are the principal genera of this family ? 



2. What are the characters of the Nuthatches 7 What are the habile 

 ■af the common European Nuthatch ? Upon what does it feed? 



