SITTELLA LEUCOCEPHALA, Gould. 
Fig. 1. 
Sitt. cajnte, gulct, corporeque subtiis albescent ihus, hoc Tmeis cincreo-fuscis longitudinalihus notato ; 
corpore siqjrdcinerescenti-fasco ; uropygio cdho ; caudd f used albo terminatd ; alis fnscis; primariis, 
secondariisque late rufo fusciatis ; crissofnsco, albo variegato ; rostra aurautiaco, adapicein fusco ; 
pedibus Jlavis. 
Long. tot. 4^ unc. ; rostri, ^ • alee, 2| ; caudcc, 1 1 ; tarsi, f . 
Head, throat, and under surface greyish white, the latter witli a stripe of greyish brown doM n the 
centre of each feather ; upper surface greyish brown ; rump white ; tail blackish brown, the middle 
feathers slightly and the outer feathers largely tipped with white ; wings brown, with a broad mark of 
rufous across the middle of the primaries and secondai'ies ; under tail-coverts brown, margined and 
tipped with white ; bill orange at the base, blackish brown at tlie tip ; feet yellow. 
Syn. Sittella leucoceplmlu, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part V., 1837. 
Habitat. Australia : locality, unknown. 
SITTELLA CHRYSOPTERA, Swalm. 
Fig. 2. 
Sitt. vertice fusco ; nucha dorsoque cinerescenti-fuscis ; plitmis lined centrali nigrescente, longitudina- 
liter notatis ; uropijgio tectricibusque caudm superioribus albis ; caudd nigrescenti-fuscd, ad api- 
cem (plumis duabus inter jnediis exceptis) cervind ; alis intense fuscis, primariis, secondariisque 
nommllis rufo fasciatis ; guld, corpore subtiis, crissoque cinerescenti-albis ; hoc fusco fa sciato ; rostro 
fusco, ad basin aurantiaco ; pedibus Jlavis. 
Long. tot. 4^ unc. ; rostri, ala:, 2^ ; caudce, \ \ ; tarsi, ^. 
Crown of the head dark brown ; back of the neck and back greyish brown, with a stripe of dark 
brown down the centre of each feather ; rump and upper tail-coverts Avhite ; tail blackish brown, all 
but the two centre feathers tipped with buff; wings dark brown with a large oblique patch of rufous 
across the middle of the primaries and some of the secondaries, and each feather very slightly tipped with 
bulf ; throat and under surface greyish white ; under tail-coverts greyish white, crossed near their extre- 
mity with brown ; bill orange at the base, dark brown for the remainder of its length ; feet yellow. 
Syn. Sifta chrgsoptera, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp., p. xxxii. — Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. 
p. 296. 
Orange-winged Nuthatch, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp. vol. ii. p. 146, pi. 227. — Shaw, Gen. Zool., 
vol. viii. p. 126, and vol. xiv. p. 189. — Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 77, pi. lxiii. 
Sittella chrysoptera. Swains. Nat. Hist, and Class. Birds, vol. ii. p. 317. 
Habitat. Australia : locality, New South Wales. 
SITTELLA PILEATA, Gould. 
Fig- 2- 
Sitt. f route, strigd superciliari, guld, pectore abdomineque medio albis ; vertice nigro ; p)lunns auricu- 
laribus, nucha, dorsocpie cineresceuti-fiscis ; hujus lined saturatiore per medias plumas excurrente ; 
uropygio albo, tectricibus caudce, crissoque, cinerescenti-fuscis, fusco cdboque variegatis ; caudd 
nigrd ad apicem albd ; alis nigrescenti-fuscis, notd rufd centrali ; lateribus et ventre cinerescenti- 
fuscis ; rostro ad basin Jlavo, ad apicem nigro ; pedibus Jlavis. 
Long. tot. 4f unc. ; rostri, ^ ; alee, 3\ ; cauda:, 1^ ; tarsi, ^. 
Forehead, stripe over the eye, throat, breast, and centre of the abdomen white ; cro\\ n of the head 
black ; ear-coverts, back of the neck and back greyish brown, with a small stripe of dark brown down 
the centre of each feather of the latter; rump white; upper and under tail-coverts greyish brown 
crossed with an arroM'-shaped mark of dark brown, and tipped with white ; tail black, the centre fea- 
thers slightly and the outer ones largely tipped with white ; wings blackish brown, with a large patch 
of rufous in the centre, interrupted by the blackish brown margins of some of the secondaries, all 
the feathers slightly tipped with greyish brown ; flanks and vent greyish brown ; bill yellow at the 
base, black at the tip ; feet yellow. 
Syn. Sittella pileuta, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part V., 1837. 
Habitat. Australia : locality. Swan River. 
SITTELLA MELANOCEPHALA, Goidd. 
Fig. 4. 
Sitt. vertice, occipite, plumisque auricularibus nigris ; dor so pjlumisque scapularibus cinerescenti-fuscis ; 
alis nigris, primariis secondariiscpie, plus minusve rufo notatis ; uropygio, tectricibusque caudce 
albis ; caudd nigra ad apicem albo notatd ; crisso albo fusco fasciato ; pxdpebris aurantiacis ; 
rostro ad basin cameo, ad apicem nigro ; pedibus Jlavis. 
Long. tot. 4|^ unc. ; rostri, ^ ; alee, 3-g- ; caudce, 1 ^ ; tarsi, |-. 
Crown and back of the head and ear-covei'ts black ; back and scapularies greyish brown, with an in- 
distinct mark of dark brown down the centre of each feather ; M'ings black, with a large patch of rich 
rufous on the centre of the inner webs of the outer primaries, across both webs of the iinier ones, and on 
the inner and a portion of the outer webs of the secondaries, each feather very slightly tipped with 
greyish white ; rump and upper tail-coverts white ; tail black, with a spot of white at the extremity of 
each feather ; throat and under surface white ; under tail-coverts white, crossed near their extremities 
with blackish brown ; eyelids orange ; bill flesh colour at the base, black at the tip ; feet yellow, 
Syn. Sittella melanocephala, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part V., 1837. 
Habitat. Australia: locality, Swan River, on the west coast. 
Note. At present I consider these four birds to be distinct, and have characterised them accordingly : 
but from the little knowledge we possess of the changes they undergo, it may ultimately prove that leuco- 
ceplmlu and chrysoptera are different stages of one species, and pileata and melanocephala of another. 
