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NUTHATCHES. 
are ad n ate at the base, and imbricated. The berries are oval, small, and 
of a bluish colour. The wood is red, close-grained, very durable, and has a 
strong scent. Its growth is extremely slow, and this circumstance, together 
with the great destruction of the tree for various purposes, has rendered it 
difficult to procure cedar-wood of tolerable size in the more accessible parts 
of the country 
FAMILY XXIII.— SITTING. NUTHATCHES. 
Bill of moderate length or rather long, straight, rather slender, conico- 
subulate, somewhat compressed, with the tips acute, or cuneate. Head 
ovate ; neck short ; body full. Tarsi rather short, or of moderate length, 
slender, compressed, with seven or eight scutella ; toes long, very slender ; 
hind toe extremely long ; anterior little spreading ; claws long, little 
arched, slender, much compressed, acute. Plumage soft and full. Wings 
of moderate length, broad, rounded. Tail short, broad, of twelve feathers. 
Roof of upper mandible very narrow, slightly concave, with three ridges ; 
tongue very slender, with the tip abrupt and bristly ; oesophagus without 
dilatation ; stomach roundish, moderately muscular ; intestine short and 
wide ; cceca very small. Trachea simple ; with a single pair of large inferior 
laryngeal muscles. Allied to the Titmice on the one hand, and the Wood- 
peckers on the other. 
Genus I.— SITTA, Linn. NUTHATCH. 
Bill rather long, or of moderate length, straight, conico-subulate, a little 
compressed, rather obtuse ; upper mandible with the dorsal outline very 
slightly arched, the ridge rather narrow, the sides sloping, the edges sharp, 
without notches, the tip rather blunt ; lower mandible with the angle of 
moderate length and narrow, the dorsal line ascending and very slightly 
convex, the sides slightly convex, the tip narrow. Nostrils basal, round 
operculate, partially concealed by the reverse bristly feathers. Head ovate ; 
