BLACK-CAPPED TITMOUSE. 213 



spot of white is placed at the base of the lower mandible ; the bill is 

 strong, slightly curved, sharply ridged on the top, compressed, over- 

 hanging a little at the tip, not notched, pointed, and altogether black ; 

 the tongue is tapering, more fleshy than those of the Muscicapa tribe, 

 and a little lacerated at the tip ; the nostril is oval, and half covered 

 with an arching membrane ; legs and feet light blue, hind claw rather 

 the strongest, the two exterior toes united to the second joint. 



The female may be distinguished from the male by the black and 

 white adjoining the eye being less intense or pure than in the male ; 

 and in having the inside of the mouth of a dirty flesh color, which in the 

 male is black ; in other respects their plumage is nearly alike. 



GENUS XLV. PARUS. TITMOUSE. 

 Species I. P. ATRICAPILLUS. 



BLACK-CAPPED TITMOUSE. 



[Plate VIII. Fig. 4.] 



Parus africapillus, Linn. Syst. i., 341, 6. — Gmel. Syst. i., 1008. — La Mcsange d 

 tele noire de Canada, Buffon, v., 408. — Canada Titmouse, Arct. Zool. ii., No. 328. 

 —Lath. Syn. iv., 542, 9. 



This is one of our resident birds, active, noisy and restless, hardy 

 beyond any of his size, braving the severest cold of our continent as far 

 north as the country round Hudson's Bay, and always appearing most 

 lively in the coldest weather. The males have a variety of very 

 sprightly notes, which cannot indeed be called a song, but rather a 

 lively, frequently repeated, and often varied twitter. They are most 

 usually seen during the fall and winter, when they leave the depth of 

 the woods, and approach nearer to the scenes of cultivation. At such 

 seasons they abound among evergreens, feeding on the seeds of the pine 

 tree ; they are also fond of sunflower seeds, and associate in parties of 

 six, eight, or more, attended by the two species of Nuthatch already 

 described, the Crested Titmouse, Brown Creeper, and small Spotted 

 Woodpecker ; the whole forming a very nimble and restless company, 

 whose food, manners and dispositions are pretty much alike. About 

 the middle of April they begin to build, choosing the deserted hole of a 

 squirrel or Woodpecker, and sometimes with incredible labor digging out 

 one for themselves. The female lays six white eggs, marked with 

 minute specks of red ; the first brood appears about the beginning of 

 June, and the second towards the end of July ; the whole of the family 



