56 



Northern hemisphere. They number about twenty species, four 

 of which are North American (Case B), and the others European 

 and Asiatic (Case T). 



The true Titmice (family Paridce) range throughout the tem- 

 perate and colder portions of the Northern hemisphere, of which 

 nearly one-third occur in North America (Case B). Other forms 

 frequently associated with them occur in Africa, Australia, and 

 New Zealand (Case T). Altogether the group numbers about 

 eighty species. 



The Water-Ousels or Dippers (family Cinclidce) are birds of 

 very peculiar form, they being " water-birds " and expert divers. 

 Their short, concave wings and stumpy tail give them somewhat 

 the form of Wrens. They inhabit mountain torrents, diving to 

 the bottom for their food, and build large domed nests. (See 

 Fig. 1 8.) Only twelve species are known, all belonging to one 

 genus ; three are found in the Andes of South America, and 

 others in the mountains of Central America, the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, and in the mountains of Northern Europe and Northern 

 Asia (see Cases B, F, and T). 



The numerous Wrens, Mockingbirds, Thrashers, and their allies 

 constitute the large family Troglodytidce. The Wrens, alone 

 numbering nearly one hundred and fifty species, reach by far 

 their highest numerical development in the warmer parts of the 

 New World, to which several of the largest genera are restricted, 

 and where about two-thirds of the species are found (see Case F). 

 A few species occur in Europe and Asia (Case T). The 

 Mockingbirds, Thrashers, and certain allied forms, constituting 

 the subfamily Mimitice, are all American, and number about fifty 

 species. Of the sixteen species of Mockingbirds (see Case F), 

 one only reaches the United States, and may be taken as a fair 

 illustration of the group (see Case B). The Thrashers have a 

 single representative in the eastern United States in our well- 

 known Brown Thrush or Brown Thrasher (see Group No. 3), but 

 the grou]) finds its metropolis in the arid regions of the South- 

 west, where three-fourths of the species occur (see Case B). The 

 Catbird, a near ally of the Mockingbirds and Thrashers, is shown 

 in Group No. 22. 



The Golden Orioles {Oriolidce) of the Old World bear a general 



