PARin.E — THE TITMICE. 



87 



Gen. Char. Crown with a (■onspiouous crest. Bill conical ; both upper and lower 

 outlines convex. Wings graduated ; first quill very short. Tail moderately long and 

 rounded. Nests in hollow trees ; eggs white with fine red dottings. 



Of tliis genus there are .several North American species, all agreeing in 

 general characters. One of these, 

 the L. ivolhrchcvi, is given by Ca- 

 banis as typical, while he sepa- 

 rates the L. hicolor generically 

 under the name of Bccolophus, 

 as having a rather different form 

 of crest, stouter bill and feet, and 

 longer wings. All of our species, 

 however, vary in these charac- 

 ters, each one showing a different 

 combination, so tliat we prefer to 

 consider all as belonging to the 

 same genus witli P. cristatuft. 



The species, all nf wliicli have the under parts uniform wliitisli, may be 

 arranged as follows : — 



L. bicolor. Above plumbeous ; forehead black ; crown much like the back. Rah. 

 Eastern Province United States. 



L. atricristatus. Above plumbeous ; forehead whitish ; crown black. Hab. East 

 Mexico, north to Rio Grande. 



L. inornatus. Above olivaceous; forehead and crown like the back. Ildh. South of 

 iliddle and Western Provinces of United States. 



L. woll'weberi. Sides of head banded black and white ; crown a^h ; throat Ijlack. 

 Hab. S. Kocky Mountains of United States; Mexico to Oaxaca. 



Lophnpliatifs bicolor. 



i^ Lophophanes bicolor, Bonap. 



TTJFTED TITMOUSE; BLACK-FKOHTED TITMOUSE. 



Parus bicolor, Linn. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. I, 1766, 3i0 (based on Pnrus cristatits, C.4tesbt, 

 I, pi. Ivii). — Pr. Max. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 118. Lophojilumes bicolor. Box. List 

 Birds Europe, 1842. — Baiud, Birds N. Am. 1858, 384; Review, 78. — Sclater, 

 Catal. 1861, 14, no. 87. Bceolopkus bicolor, Cab. Mus. Hein. I, 1850, 91 (type of genus). 

 Loplwphnnts missourictisis, B.\IRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 384 (var. from Missouri River). 



Figures: AViLsox, Am. Orn. I, pl- viii, fig. 5. — Aud. Orn. Biog. I, pi. ceoi ; Ib. Birds 

 Am. II, pl. cxxv. 



Sr. C:iAK. Above ashy ; a black frontal band. Beneath dull whitish ; sides browni.sh- 

 chestnut, of more or less intensit}-. Length, 6.2.5 inches; wing, .3.17. 

 Hab. United States, from Missouri A'alley eastAvard. 



Feathers of the crown elongated into a flattened crest, wliich extends back 

 as far as the occiput. Bill conical; lower edge of upper mandible nearly 

 straight at the base. Fourtli and fifth quills equal ; tliird a little sliorter 



