of the United States . 
97 
Inhabits throughout the union : less common than the pre- 
ceding species : migratory. 
154. Sitta pusilla, Lath. Plumbeous; head and neck 
above light brown ; beneath dull white ; lateral tail feathers 
black, tipped with slate, and crossed with a streak of white. 
Brown-headed JVuthatch, Sitta pusilla Wils. Am. Orn . ii. 
p. 105. pi. IB. fig. 2 . 
Inhabits the southern states : rather common : resident. 
FAMILY XII. ANTHOMYZI. 
Anthomyzi , Vieill. Ranz. Suspensi , Tenuirostres, 111 » 
Tenuirostres , Cuv. Latr. Order Ams ‘dactyli, Temm. 
Bill elongated or moderate, slender, entire, very acute, or 
tubulous at tip : tongue long, slender, fibrous, extensible. 
Feet short, or moderate, slender; tarsus annulated, naked, 
or half feathered ; hind toe slender, shorter than the inner ; 
the latter united at base to the middle one. Tail of ten or 
twelve feathers. 
Moult semi-annually. Plumage generally brilliant. 
Feed chiefly on the nectar of flowers, which they suck by 
means of their long and extensible tongue; some species 
also partly on insects. Some construct their nest with much 
art, and lay several times a year. Generally no voice. 
Difficult to domesticate. 
29. TBOCHILUS. 
Trochilus , L. Gm. Lath. 111. Cuv. Temm. Vieill . Ranz. 
Polytmus , Mellisuga , Briss. Trochilus , Orthorhyncus , Lacep. 
Dum. Dumont. 
Bill elongated, incurved, recurved or straight, (3 subg.) 
slender, rounded, depressed at base where it is as wide as the 
front, acute at tip ; edges of the upper mandible covering 
the lower, the bill thus forming a tube ; mouth very small : 
nostrils basal, linear, covered behind by a turgid membrane : 
tongue greatly elongated, very extensible, entire at base, 
