INSESSORES. 315 



I inhabit,) which prefer dry commons, or wide extended plains, 

 and feed on the insects peculiar to such localities. The Robin 

 Red-breast, Erithacus* (Gr. erithacos, Red-breast;) rubecula, 

 (Lat. a Red-breast,) of ballad -and song celebrity, and a bird 

 that sings throughout the whole year, belongs to this third 

 group. It is smaller, and more familiar in its habits, than the 

 American Robin, Turdus migratorius. 



(4.) THE WAG-TAILS and TIT-LARKS, Motacillida, (from mota- 

 cilla, Lat. for wag-tail.) in some respects like the Wading birds, 

 and which have for their food the insects that frequent humid 

 and wet places. 



The American Pipit, or Tit-lark, Antlius, (Lat. a tit-lark,) 

 ludovicianus, is of this group, a little bird about six and a 

 half inches long, varying in its plumage with age and sex; in 

 the male, of grayish brown on the upper parts, and dusky white 

 beneath. It feeds on minute shells, shrimps, and aquatic insects 

 found on rocky shores and the banks of streams, or on insects 

 and various seeds which it finds in meadows and ploughed 

 grounds ; when feeding in the latter places, these Tit-larks are 

 seen in small flocks; to this the specific name probably refers. 

 These birds appear in New York about the first of May, but 

 range far North and West ; wintering in Louisiana and still 

 farther South. 



(5.) THE TIT-MICE, Parida, (from Parus, Lat. for tit-mouse, 

 or torn-tit,) birds which search assiduously for insects among 

 the buds and tender shoots of trees. At the same time, they are 

 quite omnivorous, sometimes laying up stores of grain, and even 

 eating small and sickly birds, when they are able to destroy 

 them. Of this group, the Black-cap Tit-mouse, or Chickadee, 

 P. atricapillus, (Lat. black-haired,) is a familiar example, (Plate 

 X. fig. 4e,) a truly Northern species, and so abundant in the fur 

 countries, that companies of them may be found in almost every 

 thicket. The penduline Tit-mouse, or Bottle-tit, Parus penduli- 

 nus, derives its name from its purse-like, or bottle-shaped nest, 

 suspended on the branch of a willow or some other aquatic tree, 

 with an opening on the side for the ingress and egress of the bird 

 and its young. (Plate XI. fig. 5.) 



THE CHESTNUT-CROWNED TIT-MOUSE, P. minimus, (Lat. least,) 

 of the Wahlamet, (near the Pacific coast,) constructs a curious 

 nest, resembling a long purse, and hanging from a low bush. 

 (Plate XI. fig. 1.) It is made chiefly of moss, down, and lint 

 of plants, and lined with feathers; the female lays six white eggs. 



* This is spelled Erythaca, on the Chart, after the manner of Swainson 

 and others, but the true orthography is that given in the text. 



