BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 375 



Family PARID^. 



THE TITMICE. 



Small " ten-primiuiod " acutipliuitar O.scines, with the bill much 

 shortor than the head (iiiucli shorter than tarsus), unnotched; nostrils 

 small, nonoperculate, concealed ])y antrorse latero-frontal plumules; 

 hallux not distinctly, if at all, lont^er than longest (outer) lateral toe; 

 outer toe not distinctl}', if at all, longer than inner; acrotarsiuni dis- 

 tinctly scutellatc; wing rounded, with seventh to fourth primaries 

 longest, the ninth shorter than fifth (usualh^ shorter than first), the 

 tenth at least one-third as long as the ninth." 



Bill small, very mucli sliorter than head, more or less conoidal, but 

 extremely variai)ie in relative length and thickness and curvature of 

 culmen, the maxillary tomium without trace of subterminal notch, 

 the rhamphotheca smooth throughout; gonys relatively long (twice as 

 long as mandibidar rami or mor(^). Nostril very small, roundish, non- 

 operculate, latero-basal, entirely hidden by antrorse latero-frontal 

 plumules. Rictal bristles usually distinct, but never conspicuous 

 (obsolete in Aur/jxu-us, Pmltrij^anis, ;md allied PaUearctic genera). 

 ^" Tongue obtuse, beset at tip with horny bristles.'"' Wing well devel- 

 oped, but rounded; eighth to fourth primaries longest, the tenth (outer- 

 most) less than half as long as ninth, sometimes scarcely more than one- 

 fourth as long, rarely'" rudimentary, scarcely obvious. Tail variable 

 in relative length, rarely only a))out half as long as wing,<^ usually 

 about as long, sometimes uuich longer, usualh^ slightly rounded, some- 

 times excessively graduated, rarely '' emarginate. Tarsus variable as 

 to relative length, but alwaj^s decidedly longer than middle toe with 

 claw, the acrotarsiuni distincth^ scutellate; outer toe slightly longer 

 than inner toe, its claw reaching to or beyond base of middle claw; 

 hallux equal in length to inner toe, but much stouter, its claw much 

 larger than that of any of the aiiterior toes, sometimes nearh' as long 

 as the digit; basal phalanx of middle toe adherent to outer toe for 

 most if not the whole of its extent, to the inner b}' not less than half 

 (sometimes all) of its length. 



Coloration. — Extremely variable, but never streaked, spotted, nor 

 barred. 



Range. — Northern hemisphere in general, chiefly the Pahearctic 

 region; one genus, apparenth', in Australia.' 



« Except in the Palpearctic genus Remiza Stejneger {=Aegiihalvs of authors, not 

 Aegithaloa Hermann, 1804). 



&Gado\v, Cat. Birds, Brit. Mus., viii, 1883, 2. 



c In the Asiatic genus Cephalopyrus. 



t'ln genera rVj)/irr/o7>?/r».s and *S'//?r(;)an<.sof the II iniala van (listriit(Palivarctic' region). 



'^ Judging from external eliaracters alone, I am inclined to consider the Australian 

 genus Apli(tl()(rj)lKtla Oberholser {Xirophila Gould) a member of the Parida'. A 

 related Australian genus or subgenus, Spheuosioma Gould, I have not been able to 

 examine. Cerlhiparun Lafresnaye, of New Zealand, I certainly would exclude. 



