264 



SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — PA SSERES — OSCINES. 



long, soft, and loose, without bright colors or well-niiirked changes according to sex, age, or 

 season (excepting Auriparus). 



There may be about seventy-five good species of the Parince, thus restricted, most of 

 them falUng in the genus Parus, or in its immediate neighborhood. With few exceptions 

 they are birds of the northern hemisphere, -abounding in Europe, Asia, and North America. 

 The larger proportion of the genera and species inhabit the Old World. All those of the New 



Worid occur within our limits. 



Analysis of Genera. 

 Crested. 



Wings and tail rounded, of about equal lengths. No red or yellow Lophophanes 13 



Not crested. 



Wings and tail rounded, of about equal lengths. No red or yellow Parus 14 



Wings rounded, shorter than the graduated tail. No red or yellow Psaltriparus 15 



Wings pointed, longer than the even tail. Head yellow ; bend of wing red Auriparus 16 



13. LOPHO'PHANES. (G r. Xo0os, Zc</;/tos, a crest ; ^aij/a>, ^/lamo, I appear.) Crested Tit- 

 mice. Head crested. Wings and tail rounded, of about equal lengths, and about as long as 

 the body. Bill conoid-compressed, with upper and under outlines both convex. No yellow on 

 head nor red on wing. Plumage lax, much the same in both sexes at all ages and seasons. 

 Average size of the species at a maximum for Parince. Nests excavated in trees ; eggs spotted. 



Analysis of Species. 



Frontlet black ; sides washed with rusty. Eastern bicolor 40 



Crest like rest of upper parts ; no rusty on sides. Southwestern inomatus 41 



Crest entirely black ; rusty on sides. Texan atrocristatus 42 



Head with several black stripes ; no rusty on sides. Southwestern woUweheri 43 



40. L. bi'color. (Lat. his, twice; cotor, color. Fig. 136.) Tufted Titmouse. $ 9, adult: 

 Entire upper parts ashy, the back usually with a slight 

 olivaceous shade, the wings and tail rather purer and darker 

 plumbeous, the latter sometimes showing obsolete transverse 

 bars. Sides of the head and entire under parts duU whitish, 

 washed with chestnut-brown on the sides. A black frontlet 

 at the base of the crest. Bill plumbeous-blackish ; feet plum- 



l'^^'^- "^^^Sj/J -*^^^w beous. Length 6.00-6.50 inches; extent 9.75-10.75 ; wing 



l^fe»___- ~ '* ^.fi^ ^ and tail 3.00-3.25; bill 0.40; tarsus 0.80; middle toe and 



^^ ^ ^ claw 0.75. 9 smaller than $. Young: The crest less devel- 



M^^^^'-^^Jlf^ oped; little if any trace of the black frontlet; sides scarcely 



ft^Jfi''0W washed with rusty. Eastern U. S., rather southerly; scarcely 



k'/^^^ N. to New England ; resident, abundant in woodland and 



shrubbery. Nest in holes; eggs 6 or 8, 0.75 X 0.56, white. 

 Fig. . 136. — Tufted Titmouse, , , .,, it i i j vi 



nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) dotted With reddish-brown and lilac. 



41. L. inorna'tus. (Lat. w, as signifying negation, and ornatus, adorned ; orno, I ornament.) 

 Plain Titmouse. ^ 9 , adult : Entire upper parts dull leaden-gray, with a slight olive 

 shade ; the wings and tail rather purer and darker. Below, dull ashy-whitish, without any 

 rusty wash on the sides. No black on the head. Extreme forehead and sides of the head 

 obscurely speckled with whitish. No decided markings anywhere. In size rather less than 

 L. hicolor; length usually under 6.00 ; wing and tail under 3.00. Young quite like the adults, 

 which closely resemble the young of L. hicolor; but in the latter there are traces at least of the 

 reddish of the sides or black of the frontlet, or both ; the general coloration is purer, with more 

 distinction between the upper and under parts, and the size is rather greater. The speckled 

 appearance of the sides of the head and lores of L. inomatus is peculiar. Southwestern United 

 States, abundant, resident. The typical form Californiau ; a rather larger, stouter-billed form, 

 lighter leadeurgray with scarcely any olive shade, from Utah, Arizona, etc., is L. i. griseus, 

 Kidgw., Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus., v., 1882, p. 344. 



