PARUS. 561 



south to Gulf coast (including Florida and eastern and 

 central Texas).. 731. P. bicolor (Linn.). Tufted Titmouse. 

 e^. Paler, with forehead chestnut, light rusty brown, or smoky 

 brown. Hah. Southeastern Texas (Bee County). 

 — . P. bicolor texensis Sennett. Texan Tufted Titmouse.* 

 dK Forehead white or brownish (except along middle line) ; crest 

 black, or dark brown (dull blackish or dusky brownish, tinned 

 with gray, in young) ; length about 5.00-6.00. 

 e\ Smaller, with forehead white or pale smoky brown, crest and 

 entire crown deep black in adult ; gray of upper parts more 

 tinged with olive ; wing 2.70-3.05, tail 2.50-2.90. Eggs .74 

 X -53. Hah. Eastern Mexico, north to southern Texas 

 (Eio Grande Yalley). 



732. P. atricristatus Cass. Black-crested Titmouse. 

 e^. Larger, with crest duller black, usually more or less mixed 

 with gray and passing into uniform gray anteriorly, the 

 forehead usually strongly tinged with rusty brown (some- 

 times almost chestnut) ; wing 2.95-3.12, tail 2.95-3.00. 

 Sab. Eastern Texas (Bee County)... — . P. atricristatus 

 castaneifrons Sennett. Chestnut-fronted Titmouse.'^ 

 Top of head entirely gray or grayish brown : flanks grayish or olive-gray- 

 ish, without rusty tinge. 



d}. Lower parts whitish (the belly quite white), in marked contrast 

 with color of upper j)arts. 

 e^. Above brownish; bill horn-grayish or plumbeous; length 

 about 5.00-5.60, wing 2.68-2.90 (2.77), tail 2.20-2.60 (2.40), 

 culmen .38-.40 (.40), tarsus .80-.88 (.83). Eggs .68 X -52, 

 plain white. Hab. Pacific coast of United States from 

 southern California to Oregon. 



733. P. inornatus Game. Plain Titmouse. 

 e^ Above ash-gray; bill black; length about 5.25-5.75, wing 2.80, 

 tail 2.40-2.55, culmen .38-.45, tarsus .75-.80. Hah. South- 

 ern portion of Lower California. 

 7336. P. inornatus cineraceus PtiDGw. Ashy Titmouse. 

 d"^. Lower parts light grayish, not strongly contrasted with brown- 

 ish gray of upper parts ; length about 5.75-6.10, wing 2.80- 



1 Pants bicolor texensis Sennett, Auk, iv. Jan. 1S87, 29. (See foot-note under P. atricristatus castanei- 

 frons.) 



2 Pariis atricristatus castaneifrons Sennett, Auk, iv. Jan. 1887, 28. 



Having examined four specimens of this form, including the t}'pes, I am not satisfied as to its validity as 

 a permanent form or subspecies. There is lacking that definite geographical area so essential to the existence 

 of a geographical race in a non-migratory species; and, its peculiarities being much the same as those charac- 

 terizing the P. bicolor texensis of the same district, the probability of hybridism between P. bicolor and 

 P. atricristatus is very strongly suggested. In fact, no two specimens of either form are alike, in the series 

 now before me, with which it is almost possible to make a^ series connecting the two species. 



71 



