PARUS. TIT. 423 



short nasal membrane, and concealed by reversed stiffish 

 bristle-tipped feathers. The eyes are also small ; the eyelids 

 feathered, their bare margin crenate. The aperture of the ears 

 is large and roundish. The feet are of ordinary length, rather 

 strong ; the tarsus compressed, with seven very broad anterior 

 scutella ; the toes rather large, the first proportionally very 

 large and stout, being with its claw as long as the middle toe ; 

 the anterior toes united as far as their second joint, the fourth 

 or outer considerably longer than the second. The claws are 

 long, much arched, extremely compressed, laterally grooved, 

 high and tapering to an extremely acute point. 



The plumage is extremely soft, loose and blended ; the fea- 

 thers of the upper part of the head rather compact and glossy ; 

 those about the base of the bill bristle-tipped ; but there are no 

 distinct bristle-feathers at the base of the upper mandible. The 

 feathers of the back form a very long almost downy bunch ; 

 those of the rump are short, so that the tail appears as if it 

 came off abruptly. The wings are of moderate length or rather 

 short, concave, very broad, rounded, with nineteen quills ; the 

 first very short, being about a third of the length of the second, 

 which is much shorter than the third, the fourth and fifth 

 longest, but only slightly exceeding those on each side ; the 

 secondaries very long ; all the quills narrow and rounded ; the 

 third, fourth, fifth, and sixth with the outer web cut out to- 

 wards the end. The tail is of moderate length, or rather long, 

 narrow, even or a little emarginate, somewhat arched, of twelve 

 narrow, rounded feathers. 



The Tits are all of very small size, the largest not exceeding 

 a House Sparrow in bulk, and some of them not more than 

 four inches in length. They are essentially insectivorous, but 

 many also feed on seeds of various kinds, and some split open 

 a nut or other hard pericarp by repeated strokes of their bill. 

 Flesh of any kind, especially carrion and that of dead birds, 

 they often pick, and some of them, becoming familiar in severe 

 weather, search the neighbourhood of houses for fragments of 

 bread, fat, and other articles of food. Their favourite haunts 

 however arc the forests, woods, and plantations, especially 

 those of fir, pine, larch, oak, birch, and alder, the branches and 



