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182 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
Famity PARIDZA. 
Bill generally short, conical, not notched nor decurved at tip; culmen broad and 
rounded, not sharp-ridged at base; nostrils rounded, basal, and concealed by dense 
bristles or bristly feathers; loral feathers rough and bristly, directed forwards; tarsi 
distinctly scutellate; basal joints of anterior toes abbreviated, that of middle toe 
united about equally for three-fourths its length to the lateral, in Parine forming a 
kind of palm for grasping; outer lateral toe decidedly longer than the inner; prima- 
ries ten, the first much shorter than the second; tail feathers without soft tips. 
The two sub-families may be thus distinguished: — 
Parine.— Body compressed; bill shorter than the head; wings rounded, equal 
to or shorter than the rounded tail, second quill as short as the tenth; tarsus longer 
than the middle toe and claw, which are about equal to the hinder; soles of toes 
widened into a palm; plumage rather soft and lax. 
Sittine. — Body depressed; bill about equal to or longer than the head; wings 
much pointed, much longer than the nearly even tail; tarsus shorter than the mid- 
dle toe and claw, which are about equal to the hinder; plumage more compact. 
Sub-Family Partnz.— The Titmice. 
PARUS, Linnxus. 
Parus, Lrynxus, Syst. Nat., 17385 (Agassiz). (Type P. major.) 
Head not crested; body and head stout; tail moderately long, and slightly 
rounded; bill conical, not very stout, the upper and under outlines very gently and 
slightly convex; tarsus but little longer than middle toe; crown and throat gener- 
ally black. 
PARUS ATRICAPILLUS. — Linnaeus. 
The Black-cap Titmouse; Chick-a-dee. 
Parus atricapillus, Linneus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 841. Wilson, Am. Orn., I 
(1808) 184. Aud. Orn. Biog., TV. (1838). 
Parus palustris, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 79. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Second quill as long as the secondaries; tail very slightly rounded, lateral 
feathers about ten one-hundredths shorter than middle; back brownish-ashy; top of 
head and throat black, sides of head between them white, beneath whitish; brown- 
ish-white on the sides; outer tail feathers, some of primaries, and secondaries con- 
spicuously margined with white. ; 
Length, five inches; wing, two and fifty one-hundredths inches; tail, two and 
fifty one-hundredths inches. 
HIS well-known little bird is a very common resident 
of all New England throughout the year. It is one 
of the very few species that are as abundant in the depths of 
