270 
SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES— OSCINES. 
17. SIT^TA. (Lat. sitta, Gr. triVra, name of a bird. Fig. 141.) Typical Nuthatches. 
Characters practically those given under head of the family. 
Analysis of Species and Varieties. 
White below, the crissum washed with rusty-brown ; cap glossy black, without stripes. 
Bill stouter, 0.18-0.20 deep at base. Inner secondaries boldly variegated with black. Eastern 
carolinensis 57 
Bill slenderer, 0.12-0.16 deep at base. Inner secondaries scarcely variegated with blackish. Western 
aculeata 58 
Rusty-brown below ; cap glossy black with white stripes, or color of the back canadensis 59 
Rusty-brown or brownish-white below ; cap brown, unlike back, without stripes. 
Crown clear hair-brown ; a white spot on nape ; middle tail-feathers plain. Southeastern . pusilla 60 
Crown dull brownish, with darker border ; little or no white on nape ; middle tail-feathers with 
black. Southwestern pijgmcea 61 
Fig. 141. — European Nuthatch, Sitta ccesia (resembling S. pusilla), nearly nat. size. (From Brehm.) 
57. S. carolinen'sis. (Lat. of Carolina. Fig. 142.) Carolina Nuthatch. White-bellied 
Nuthatch. ^, adult: Upper parts, central tail- 
feathers, and much edging of the wings, clear ashy- 
blue ; whole crown, nape, and back of the neck, glossy 
black. Under parts, including sides of neck and head 
to above eyes, dull white, more or less marked on the 
flanks and crissum with rusty-brown. Wings and their 
coverts blackish, much edged as already said, and with 
an oblique bar of white on the outer webs of the pri- 
maries towards their ends; concealed bases of primaries 
white ; under wing-coverts mostly blackish ; bold bluish 
Fig. 142. — Carolina Nuthatch, nat. size. 
(Ad nat. del. E. C.) 
and black variegation of the inner secondaries. Tai 
