110 
VERTEBRATA. 
method of outwitting him, if you are alone, is, as soon as lie alights and disappears behind the 
trunk, to take your stand behind an adjoining one, and keep a sharp look-out twenty or thirty feet 
up the body of the tree he is upon, for he generally mounts very regularly to a considerable 
height, examining the whole way as he advances. In a minute or two, hearing all still, he will 
make his appearance on one side or other of the tree, and give you an opportunity of observing 
him. These birds are distributed over the whole United States, but are most numerous in the 
Western and Northern States ; their haunts are in the depths of the forests, and in tracts of large 
timbered woods, w^here they usually breed, visiting the thicker settled parts of the country in fall 
and winter." 
The C. alhifrons is found in Texas ; it is five and a quarter inches long, dark brown spotted. 
The "Wall-Creeper of Europe, Tichodroma muraria, seeks its insect food on rocks and in 
walls ; it is chiefly found in the mountainous parts of Southern Europe; it is permanent though 
rare at Eome, being sometimes seen on the exterior walls of St. Peter's. 
The Tree-Creepers, Dendrocolaptince, found in the vast forests of South America, resemble 
the species we have described ; the form of the bill, however, is variable, in some cases being very 
long and bent downward. The Synallaxince are an allied group, but which not only devour in- 
sects upon the trees, but worms and snails on the ground. They are remarkable for the large 
size of their nests, those of one species measuring three or four feet in length. 
THE COMMON EUROPEAN NUTHATCH. 
THE SITTINiE OR NUTHATCHES. 
Genus SITTA : Sitta. — This includes several species. The Common European Nuthatch — 
the Pic Magon of the French, and Blcmspecht of the Germans — 8. Europcea, is a small bird, five 
inches long, blue-gray above, below rufous-brown. It runs with facility up ard down the branches 
and trunks of trees, its head often down, but having no assistance in this from its tail-feathers. It 
sleeps with the head down, and generally alights in that position. It is almost constantly in mo- 
tion, its food consisting of berries, insects, larvae, and nuts. It derives its name from the hatches 
or hammerings which it makes on nuts, either for obtaining insects or the kernels. Its call in 
the spring is a clear, shrill whistle. The nest is made with a few dry leaves in the hole of a tree. 
If the hole is too large the bird reduces it by plastering up a part with mud. The eggs are five to 
seven in number. This bird is common throughout Europe. 
Other foreign species are the 8, riqjestris, S. St/riaca, S. Uralensis, and S. Asiatica; there 
are also ciosely allied species in the Indian Archipelago and Australia. 
The White-breasted Nuthatch, S. Carolinensis, is five inches long ; the head and back of 
the neck are glossy black ; the back bluish-black ; beneath w^hite. It is found from Mexico to 
Maine, and is one of the birds that enliven our forests after the cold season has commenced and 
other birds have departed. It feeds on spiders, insects, larvse, &c. 
Other American species are the Red-bellied Nuthatch, >S'. Canadensis ; the Brown-headed 
Nuthatch, S.pusilla; and the California Nuthatch, S. pigmcea. 
