OF NEW ENGLAND. 59 



habitually cling to the trunk. The creepers, on the other 

 hand, climb much like T^'oodpeckers, confining themselves to 

 the trunks or larger upright limbs, and never touch the earth ; 

 while the nuthatches in their habits are intermediate between 

 the two. As regards music, however, the chickadees are in- 

 termediate, for the nuthatches are wholly unmusical, while the 

 creepers have a warbled song. They all, however, agree in 

 building a nest in some cavity, usually the hole of a tree, and 

 in laying small, white, spotted eggs, but the titmice are the 

 most prolific, laying in one set always more than five eggs, and 

 sometimes more than ten. They are all unsuspicious and soci- 

 able, though, in Massachusetts, only the chickadees are strictly 

 gregarious. The three families are all partially characterized 

 as follows : length less than seven inches ; bill neither hooked 

 nor notched ; tarsi scutellate ; toes not completely cleft ; pri- 

 maries ten, the first short or spurious ; tail-feathers twelve. 

 In the Paridce the bill is short, stout, pointed, and with convex 

 outlines, the nostrils are concealed, the tarsus is " longer than 

 the middle toe and claw," the tail is long, and about equal to 

 the wings. In the Sittidce the nostrils are likewise concealed, 

 but the bill is long, rather slender, acute, and with a convex 

 outline beneath only ; the tail is short (pi. 1, fig. 5). In the 

 CertJiiidce the bill is slender and decurved, the nostrils are ex- 

 posed, and the tail-feathers are stiff and pointed (pi. 1, fig. 6). 

 All the creepers and titmice of North America belong to the 

 typical groups or subfamilies, Certliiinoi and Parince. 



I. PARUS 



(A) ATRiCAPiLLUs. Blcick-capped Titmouse. Chickadee. 



(Common in Massachusetts throughout the year, but much 

 less abundant in summer than in the other seasons.) 



(a). 5-51 inches long. (Tail and wings 2^-.) Above, ashy, 

 variously tinted. Beneath, white, in winter often tinted with 

 "rusty" or buff. Crown, nap6, and throat black; intervening 

 space (nearly) ivhite. 



(6). The Chickadees either select a natural cavity or a de- 

 serted woodpecker's home, or with great labor excavate a hole 



