Bill very straight, sharp-pointed, compressed; both mandibles equally inclining to the tip, which is entire, and resembles a compressed wedge. Nostrils basal, oval, open, covered externally with incumbent setaceous feathers. Feet with three toes forward and one backward; inner toe very small; outer toe connected to the middle at its base; hind toe lengthened, strong. Claws much compressed; anterior nearly equal, posterior largest. Tail short, of twelve nearly equal feathers.

Generic Type Sitta Europæa.

Specific Character.

S. supra cærulea; supercilio, fronte, et remigibus lateralibus in medio nigris; subtus cinereo-fusca, auribus lilacinis, mento albo.

Nuthatch, above blue: line above the eye, front, and middle of the lateral tail-feathers black; beneath cinereous brown, ears lilac, chin white.

...

The present species is one of the many interesting birds collected in Java by my friend Dr. Horsfield: it was not, however, until I had described and engraved another specimen, sent to Sir J. Banks from Ceylon, that I discovered the species had already been included in the Doctor's account of the birds of Java, presented to the Linnæan Society, where he has described it under the name of Orthorynchus frontalis.

The specific name of its first describer is of course retained: with respect, however, to its generic situation, I must be allowed to dissent from considering it as a distinct genus, merely from the prolongation of the hinder toe being somewhat more developed than in Sitta Europæa and Carolinensis, both which birds are now before me, and which in themselves differ in the relative proportion of this part: thus in S. Carolinensis the hind toe and claw is two-tenths of an inch shorter than the leg; in S. Europæa it is one-tenth shorter; and in the present species it just exceeds that of the leg: in every other respect not the slightest difference I apprehend will be observed ....

Total length five inches. Size of the European Nuthatch. Bill, from the angle of the mouth to the tip, eight lines; front of the head velvet-black, continued in a stripe of the same colour over the eye, and terminating above the ear feathers: the upper plumage is of a rich blue, more brilliant on the head, and paler on the front, and external margins of the quills. Spurious wings and lesser quills black margined with blue. Inner wing-covers deep black; the under plumage is a light-brown, changing to lilac on the ears and sides of the neck, and tinged with cinereous on the flanks and vent: the chin is white; tail even, the two middle feathers blue, the rest more or less black, having the external margins and tips blue. The outer quill of the wings is short, the second and third longest and equal, the fourth rather less; the hind toe with the claw, measures one inch in a straight line.

Pl. 3

MITRA zonata.

Zoned Mitre.

Generic Character.

Testa inæqualiter fusiformis, spirâ productâ attenuatâ, labio exteriore intus edentulo. Columella plicata.

Shell unequally fusiform. Spire lengthened, attenuated. Outer lip simple, not toothed within. Columella plaited.

Specific Character.

M. epidermide luteâ, fulvo-marmoratâ, anfractibus infernè basi nigris, columellâ quinque-plicatâ. Linn. Trans. xii. p. 338.

Mitre, with the epidermis marbled with brownish-yellow; volutions at their base black; columella five-plaited.

Mitra zonata. Marryat in Linn. Trans. vol. xii. pl. 10. fig. 1. 2.

This unique and beautiful Mitre has been already described by Captain Marryat in the Linnæan Transactions: the figures, however, are uncoloured, and give a very indifferent idea of the graceful symmetry of its form. My friend Dr. Leach, with his usual liberality, permitted me to draw the accompanying figure of it at the British Museum, where it is now deposited.

It appears to have been taken near Nice in the Mediterranean, adhering to a sounding-line, in very deep water; a very singular locality, since nearly all the Mitres have generally been supposed to inhabit the tropical seas, or at least far from the coasts of Europe. It should, however, be remarked, that Cypræa lurida, an Asiatic shell, I have found on the shores of Greece: and C. Ulysses, in his travels in the kingdom of Naples, enumerates several shells as inhabiting the warm shores of the Tarentine Bay, which are generally known only as natives of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. These facts, with many others, prove the physical distribution of Molluscæ to be less decidedly marked than almost any other class of animals.

This genus is included with that of Voluta by Linnæus and our own writers, although long ago justly separated by the continental zoologists.

Pl. 4

BULIMUS melastomus.

Blackmouthed Bulimus.

Generic Character.

Testa ovalis, vel oblongo-ovalis. Spira elevata. Os integrum, sub-ovale. Columella lævis, simplex. Labium externum crassum, reflexum. Internum ultra medium cavo-inflexum. Operculum nullum.

Shell oval or oblong-oval. Spire elevated. Mouth entire, sub-oval. Column smooth, simple. Exterior lip thick, reflected. Interior lip beyond the middle inflected, and hollowed beneath. Operculum none.

Specific Character.

B. testâ oblongo-ovatâ, albâ, cinereo marmoratâ, spiræ anfractibus longitudinaliter plicatis, labio exteriore complanato; aperturâ nigrâ.

Shell oblong-ovate, white, marbled with cinereous. Spiral whorls longitudinally plaited. Outer lip flattened; aperture black.

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