318 ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS, _ 
are longest ; tertials lengthened. Tail slightly fork 
Feet slender. Anterior toes rather short ; the later: 
ones unequal, the claws small; hind toe as long « 
the middJe toe, but shorter than the tarsus ; the cla’ 
much lengthened, and slightly curved. Chili, 
G. anthoides. Part 5. No. 129. 
Srrra, Linneus. (jfig.72. Vol. I. p.136.) Bill moderate, 
very straight, cuneated, somewhat cylindrical ; the tip 
not deflexed, and entire. Nostrils entirely concealec 
by tufts of incumbent feathers. Wings long; the firs! 
quill spurious ; the second slightly shorter than the 
third, fourth, and fifth, which are equal, and longest. 
Tail short, soft, even. Feet short, strong. Ciaws 
very large, particularly the hinder one; the three 
anterior cleft to their base. Lateral toes very unequal 5; 
the outer one not much shorter than the middie, the 
inner very short: hinder toe much longer than the 
middle, and equal to the tarsus; the claw much 
shorter than the toe. All the claws strong, broad, 
and fully curved. 
S, Europea. Selby, pl. 39. Canadensis. Wils. 2. f. 4. 
Carolinensis. Wils. 2. f.2. pusilla. Ib. 15. f.2. 
Denpropuinta, Sw. General structure of Sitta ; but 
the nostrils are large, oval, open, and almost entirely — 
- naked ; the base of the bill widened ; and the Bp of 
the culmen is inclined downwards. India only.* @ 
D. flavipes. Part 5. No. 130. _ frontalis. Zool. Ill. i. pl. 2. 
Curmacreris, Temminck. (fig. 73. Vol. I. p.136.) Bill 
moderate, very slightly bent, compressed, entire. 
Wings lengthened, rounded ; the first quill spurious, — 
the second and third graduated, the fourth longest. — 
Tail very broad, soft, slightly rounded ; the feathers — 
obtuse. Feet short, ‘Toes enormously ‘long : : middle 
* I do not believe that either of these two birds exhibit, in perfection, | 
the typical characters of this genus, which, from theory, I suppose to 
intervene between Climacteris and Sitta. i have, therefore, had some | 
hesitation in proposing the group. The weaker structure of the bill, how. — 
ever, and the nakedness of the nostrils, prove that the habits of th a 
Indian birds must be different from those of the more powerful nut. j 
hatches, where the culmen is straight even to its very tip, and the nostrils 
are entirely concealed. 
