320 Mr. R. F. Tomes on the 



nidus," and the alliance is chiefly seen in the form of the bill of 

 the two birds. When these parts are seen in profile, the resem- 

 blance is certainly traceable ; the principal differences being in 

 the gi'cater curvature of the superior ridge in the Calamophilus, 

 and in the much weaker lower maxilla. In other species of Bunt- 

 ing, in which the bill is stouter, the resemblance becomes less 

 perceptible, but is not quite lost in any which I have examined, 



I will now give a short comparative description of the bills of 

 some of the Parida, selecting European species as illustrations. 

 The mandibles of Parus mnjor are of nearly equal size, the lower 

 one having a degree of curvature equal to that of the upper, and 

 but little inferior to it in length. As in the Finches, the greatest 

 breadth is at the nostrils ; but it tapers much less rapidly, and 

 maintains, so to speak, a kind of cylindrical appearance until it 

 curves evenly on all sides to the point. A section of the bill at 

 its base would represent an ovoid figure, the greater diameter 

 being vertical ; and the regularity of this figure would be in no 

 way interfered with by the space between the rami of the lower 

 maxilla, as this does not exist further forward than to a vertical 

 line through the nostril. The bill of the Nuthatch {Sitta), if 

 shortened, would be no unfair representation of the bill of a 

 typical Parus, — a bill, in fact, adapted to the habit of perforating 

 wood, common to both of these birds. Other species of Parus 

 have bills which are but modifications of the form I have here 

 described; thus, that of the Crested Tit is longer and more 

 slender, approaching more those of the Sylviadce, &c., whilst that 

 of Parus cceruleus is very short and conical. The Paruspendidiuus, 

 however, exhibits a considerable deviation from the other Euro- 

 pean ParidcE in the shape of its bill : it is very acute, tapering 

 evenly and sharply to the point ; in short, it is a very acutely 

 pointed cone, a section at the base of which would have the same 

 figure as that of the true Parus. 



To none of these modifications does the bill of the Calamophilus 

 bear the least resemblance ; it w^ould be as correct to say that it 

 resembled the bill of a Partridge or a Quail, as that of a Tit ; 

 indeed I could undertake to show greater resemblance to the bill 

 of either of the former birds than to that of the latter. If in 

 the form of the bill there is nothing to indicate a Pariitc affinity, 



