TD, PARID. 
Family PARID/. 
THe TITMOUSES, 
Oates included the Titmouses in the same family as the Crows 
and the group of birds he called Crow-Tits. Whilst, however, 
they show certain affinities with both of these groups, the three 
seem to be much easier to separate than are many others, such as 
the Thrushes, Flycatchers and Warblers, the true Shrikes, ete., 
and it, therefore, seems to be more consistent to keep these 
separate also. 
The Titmouses, Paride, differ from the Corvide in having the 
first primary equal to or less than half the length of the second, 
whereas the latter have this always more than half as long as the 
second. 
Like the Corvide, the Paride have the nostrils concealed by 
feathers or bristles, though in the genus Melanochlora the soft 
feathers which lie over the nostrils do not wholly cover them. 
The bill is short and conical, varying considerably in depth and 
stoutness ; the rictal bristles are short, the tarsus well developed 
and the surface scutulated; the wing is generally weak and 
rounded but is longer and more pointed in Melanochlora. 
Hellmayr has divided the Titmouses into several subfamilies, and 
includes amongst them the Paradoxornithide. ‘These latter birds, 
however, seem to me to constitute a good family, showing in some 
respects an affinity to the Titmouses, but in others a still closer 
connection with the 7imeliide. The genus Panurus, the Bearded 
Tits, should probably also be placed w ith the Paradowornithide. 
As regards the Indian Titmouses, I see no reason to divide them 
into subfamilies, and I include them all in the same. Since, 
however, the ‘ Fauna of India’* was published, we have had to add 
other genera and species to our list, the principal being Remiz 
(Anthoscopus) coronatus and Parus (Cyanistes) cyanus. 
The key to the genera given below applies only to our Indian 
species. “Hellmayr includes Lophophanes, Sylviparus, Machlolo- 
phus and Cyanistes in the genus Parus, but though Cyanistes 
cannot be divided from that genus, the other three appear to me 
to be generically distinct and are therefore retained. Lopho- 
phanes, “it is true, is not always crested. Our Indian Lophophanes 
ater wmodius has a well-developed crest, although it is only a sub- 
species of L. ater ater which has none and the two extremes are 
linked up by geographical races which have crests in varying 
degree. On the other hand, the shape of the tail in this genus 
quite suffices to keep it distinct from Parus. 
Cyanistes is a true Parus in everything but colour. 
The young are like the adult but paler, and in some species the 
grey or black in the adult is strongly suffused with green in the 
young. 
