182 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



FAMILY PARIDJE. 



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 Parina 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: 



Parince. 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. 



Sittince. 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 PARING. The Titmice. 

 PARUS, LINN^US. 



Parus, LIJOUETUS, Syst. Nat., 1735 (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. Linrweus. 



j The Black-cap Titmouse; Chick-a-dee. 



Parus atricapinus, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 341. Wilson, Am. Orn., I 

 (1808) 134. Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (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. 



THIS 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 



