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 Parince 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, LINNJEUS. 



Parus, LINN^TUS, Syst. Nat., 1735 (Agassiz). (Type P. major.) 

 Head not crested; body and head stout; tail moderately long, and slightly 

 rounded ; bill conical, not veiy 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. Linrums. 



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



Parus atricapittus, 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 



