SITTID^: NUTHATCHES. 
271 
Fig. 143. — Canada Nuthatch, 
nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) 
excepting the two middle feathers, black, each feather marked with white in increasing amount, 
the outer web of the lateral feather being mostly white. Bill blackish-plumbeous, pale at 
the base below. Feet dark brown. Iris brown. Length 5.50-6.00; extent 10.50-11.00; 
wing 3.50; tail 1.75; bill about 0.66 long, 0.18-0.20 deep at base. ? : Similar; black of 
head imperfect, mixed or overlaid with the color of the back, or altogether restricted to the 
nape. Eastern U. S. and British Provinces, resident, abundant in woodland, where its curious 
quanJc, quank, qiiank may often be heard as the nimble bird hops up and down the tree-trunks. 
Nest in holes, often excavated by the birds with infinite labor, lined with fur, feathers, grasses, 
etc. ; eggs numerous, 0.80 X 0.60, white, profusely speckled with reddish and lilac. 
S. c. aculea'ta. (Lat. aculeata, sharpened; referring to the slender bill.) Slender-billed 
Nuthatch. Like the last; bill slenderer, 0.12-0.16 deep at base. Inner secondaries scarcely 
or not variegated with blackish, and general tone of coloration duller. Woodland of Middle 
and Western provinces of the U. S., common, replacing No. 57. 
S. canaden'sis. (Lat. of Canada, an Iroquois word. Fig. 143.) Red-bellied Nuthatch. 
Canada Nuthatch. adult: Upper parts leaden-blue (brighter than in S. carolinensis) , 
the central tail-feathers the same ; wings fuscous, with slight 
ashy edgings and concealed white bases of the primaries. 
Entire under parts rusty-brown, very variable in shade, from 
rich fulvous to brownish-white, usually palest on the throat, 
deepest on the sides and crissum ; tail-feathers, except the 
middle pair, black, the lateral marked with white. Whole top 
and side of head and neck glossy black, that of the side appear- 
ing as a broad bar through the eye from bill to side of neck, 
cut off from that of the crown by a long white superciliary stripe, which meets its fellow across 
the forehead. Bill dark plumbeous, paler below ; feet plumbeous -brown. Length 4.50-4.75 ; 
extent 8.00-8.50; wing 2.60; tail 1.50; bill 0.50. 9: Crown like the back ; lateral stripe 
on the head merely blackish. The under parts average paler than those of the ^, but there 
is no constancy about this. Young birds resemble the 9- Temperate N. Am., common, in 
woodland; habits like those of No. 57; eggs similar, smaller, 0.65 X 0.54. 
S. pusil'la. (Lat. _pMsz7Za, puerile, petty. Fig. 144.) Brown-headed Nuthatch. ^ 9: 
No black cap or white stripe on head. Upper parts dull ashy-blue; under parts sordid or 
muddy whitish. Cap clear hair-brown. A decided spot of 
white on the middle of the nape, in the brown cap, which on 
the sides of the head includes the eyes, and is bordered with 
dusky. Middle tail-feathers like back, without black, and with 
little or no white. Small : length scarcely 4.00 ; extent about 
8.00; wing 2.50; tail 1.25; tarsus 0.60; bill about 0.50. 
South Atlantic and Gulf States ; N. to Virginia and Ohio. 
Habits of the other species : eggs 0.60 X 0.50, very heavily 
speckled with dark reddish-brown. 
S. pygmae'a. (Gr. nvyixrj, pugme, the fist ; Lat. pygmaus, a hatch, nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) 
Pyg^^y? fistling, or tom-thumb.) Pygmy Nuthatch. $ 9 : Upper parts ashy-blue, and 
wings with slight if any markings (as in canadensis), though some outer primaries may be 
narrowly edged with white. Whole top of head, nape, and sides of head to below eyes, olive- 
brown, the lateral borders of this patch blackish ; an obsolete whitish patch on the nape. 
Central tail-feathers like the back, but with a long white spot, and their outer webs black 
at base ; other tail-feathers blackish, with white marks, and often also tipped with the color of 
the back. Entire under parts ranging from muddy-white to smoky-brown or rich rusty, nearly 
or quite as intense as in S. canadensis; flanks and crissum shaded with a duU wash of the 
color of the back. Bill and feet dark plumbeous, the former paler at base below. Iris black. 
Brown-headed 
