488 SHUFELDT. [Vot. III. 
triparvus and most Wrens repeat this state of affairs almost 
exactly (compare Figs. 1, 3, and 7), while the septum is more 
nearly complete in Accentor, while in the Tits, more especially 
in Lophophanes, it comes very near being entirely so (Figs. 5 
and 6). The zygoma is reduced to almost hair-like dimensions 
in all of these species, and the pars plana separating the orbital 
and rhinal spaces is comparatively large, tumorous, and of a 
quadrilateral form. Few characters, if any, are afforded by the 
posterior aspect of these skulls; in all this part of the cranium 
is rounded, quite smooth, always shows a supraoccipital promi- 
nence, but never the foramina on either side of it. So well 
known is the arrangement of the palatal osseous structures at 
the base of the skull in these ordinary passeres, that we will 
refrain from entering upon a detailed description of them here. 
The various parts, more particularly the palatines and maxillo- 
palatines, differ to some extent in form in the several genera 
and species, but the arrangement remains essentially always the 
same. In all except Lophophanes the vomer is truncated an- 
teriorly and variously notched, while in the excepted genus this 
bone shows a longitudinal median carination beneath, and is 
carried, in the specimen before me, to a point in front, as a 
whole it being shaped something like a diminutive oblanceolate 
leaf. Psaltriparus plumbeus has the bony structures at the 
-base of the skull most like the corresponding ones in Chame@a ; 
the Wrens and Chickadees seem to stand next in this regard, 
Accentor approaching the. Muizotiltide. Generally the narial 
ends of the maxillo-palatines are dilated into a small paddle- 
shaped extremity, but in such a form as Regulus satrapa, how- 
ever, no such enlargement exists, these processes each being 
long and very slender. Normally, they are not in contact either 
with each other or with any of the surrounding bones, and the 
_ vomer fuses with the palatines behind. 
Of no very great strength in any of the species before me, the 
mandible in all is of a V-shape form, and differs principally in 
the size of the ramal vacuity. This is very large, relatively, in 
Chamea, Psaltriparus, Crested Tits, Chickadees, and some 
others, but notably diminished in size in most Wrens, where it 
may disappear altogether in some species. 
Nothing worthy of special note characterizes the hyoidean 
apparatus, still less the intrinsic ossifications of either the eye or 
