in ornithology. See Sitta, its generic name. In this place we shall only extract from Buffon an account of two species of foreign birds related to the nuthatch.

1. The great hook-billed nuthatch.—"It is the largest of the known nuthatches; its bill, though pretty straight, is inflated at the middle, and a little hooked at the end; the nostrils are round; the quills of the tail and of the wings edged with orange on a brown ground; the throat white; the head and back gray; the under side of the body whitish. Such are the principal properties of the bird. It was observed by Sloane in Jamaica.

"Its total length is about seven inches and a half; the bill, is eight lines and one third; the upper mandible a little protuberant near the middle; the mid toe, eight lines and one third; the alar extent, eleven inches and a quarter; the tail about twenty-three lines."

2. The spotted or Surinam nuthatch.—"This is another American nuthatch, with a hooked bill; but differs from the preceding in size, plumage, and climate: it inhabits Dutch Guiana.

"The upper side of the head and of the body is of a dull ash colour; the superior coverts of the wings of the same colour, but terminated with white; the throat white; the breast and all the under side of the body cinereous, and more dilute than the upper side, with white streaks scattered on the breast and sides, which forms a sort of speckling; the bill and legs brown.

"Total length, about six inches; the bill, an inch; the tarsus, seven lines and a half; the mid toe, eight or nine lines, and longer than the hind toe, whose nail is the strongest; the tail, about eighteen lines, consisting of twelve nearly equal quills, and exceeds the wings thirteen or fourteen lines."