THE BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH. 
181 
dorsal outline very slightly arched, the edges sharp towards the point; lower 
mandible smaller, of equal length, straight. Nostrils basal, round, half- 
closed by a membrane, partially covered by the frontal feathers. The 
general form is short and compact. Feet rather strong, the hind toe stout, 
with a strong hooked claw ; the claws arched, compressed, acute. 
Plumage soft, blended, with little gloss. Wings rather short, broad, the 
second and third primaries longest. Tail short, broad, even, of twelve 
rounded feathers. 
Bill black. Iris brown. Feet and claws flesh-coloured, tinged with 
yellowish-green. The general colour of the plumage above is a light leaden- 
grey, beneath pale brownish-red. The top of the head is bluish-black. A 
long white line passes over the eye ; a broader line of black from the bill to 
the eye, and beyond it down the neck ; the throat white. Primary quills 
dusky, margined with greyish-blue ; tail-feathers blackish, the two middle 
ones of the general colour of the back ; the lateral ones white towards the 
end. 
Length 41 inches ; extent of wings 8 ; bill along the ridge yv ; gap-line T %. 
Adult Female. 
There is scarcely any perceptible external difference between the sexes, 
the lower parts of the female being merely a little paler, and the black of 
the head not so deep. 
THE BROW JS r - HEADED NUTHATCH. 
SlTTA PUSILLA, Lath. 
PLATE COXLIX. — -Male and Female. 
Actively and most diligently employed is this little rover ever found in 
our pine woodlands of the Southern Districts, where it resides all the year, 
and beyond which it seldom extends, few being ever seen to the eastward of 
Maryland. Those large tracts of sandy soil that occupy the greater portion 
of the Floridas, Georgia, and the Carolinas, appear to suit its habits best. It 
is rather rare in Louisiana, and none go so far as Kentucky. It is the 
smallest species of Nuthatch as yet found in the United States. Its notes 
