194 ZOOLOGY. 



Family PARIDAE.— The Titmice. 

 PARUS OCCIDENTALIS, Baird. 



Western Titmouse, 



Farus occidentalis, Baikd, Gen. Eep. p. 391. 



Sp. Ch. — Tarsi lengthened. Tail graduated ; outer feather about . 25 of an inch shorter than the middle. 



Above dark brownish ash ; head and neck above and below black, separated on the sides by white ; beneath light dirty, 

 rusty yellowish brown, scarcely whiter along the middle of body. Tail and wings not quite so much edged with whitish ag 

 in P. atrkapillus. 



Length, i. 75 to 5. 12 ; extent, 7. 60 ; wing, 2. 40 ; tail, 2. 40. Iris brown, bill black, feet gray. 



Hah. — North Pacific coast of United States. 



The common black-capped chickadee, so abundant in the eastern States, is in this Territory 

 represented by the western titmouse, frequenting the low thickets and trees, where it is always 

 busily employed seeking food. I observed its nests near Puget Sound, burrowed in soft rotten 

 Avood. — C. 



Quite abundant in the valley of the Willamette, also at Fort Vancouver during winter. In 

 habits it resembles closely the black-capped chickadee of the Atlantic States. — S. 



PARUS MONTANUS, G a m b e 1 . 



Mountain Tit. 



Farus montanue, Gambel, Pr. A. N. So. 1, April, 1843, 259, (Santa re.)—CAasiN, Illust. 1, 1853, 18.— Baird, Gen. 

 Eep. Birds, p. 394. 

 Sp. Ch. — Head and neck above, with under part of head and throat glossy black ; forehead, line above the eye and one below 

 it, involving the auriculars, white. Tlicse stripes, embracing between them a black line through the eye and confluent with 

 the black of the head. Above ashy ; beneath similar, but paler ; the upper part of breast and middle line of belly white. 

 Length about 5 inches ; wing, 2. 60 ; tail, 2. 40. 

 ffab. Pacific coast of United States, probably to the Rocky mountains ; Fort Dalles, Oregon. 



I obtained one of these birds at Port Dalles, in February, 1854. It must be very rare in 

 that vicinity, as I never succeeded in getting another. — S. 



PARUS RUFESCENS, Towns. 



Chestnut-backed Tit. 



Paius rvfescens, Townsend, J. A. N. Sc. Phil. VII, II, 1837, 190.— Audubon, Cm. Biog. IV, 1838, 371 ; pi. 353.— Ib. 



Birds Am. II, 1841, 158 ; pi. 129.— Cassin, Illust. 1853, 18.— Baird, Gen. Eep. Birds, p. 394. 

 Foeeila rvfescens, Bon. Consp. 1850, 230. 

 Sp. Cn.— Whole head and neck above, and throat from bill to upper part of breast, sooty blackish brown. Sides of head 

 and neck, upper part of breast, and middle of body, white ; back and sides dark brownish chestnut. Length, 4.75 to 5 

 inches; extent, 6.50 to 7.75; wing, 2.36 ; tail, 2.16. 

 Hab. — Pacific coast of the United States. 



The rufous chickadee is the most abundant species in the forests of this Territory. It 

 appears to prefer the dense evergreens, where large parties of them may be found at all seasons, 

 busily seeking food among the leaves and branches, ascending even to the highest summits. 



They are o-enerally in company with the ruby-crowned wren, and sometimes with the other 

 species of titmice. In April they burrow out a hole in the side of a soft rotten trunk, a few 

 feet from the ground. The eggs I have never seen. During the spring they are generally 

 seen in pairs, but as soon as the broods can fly, about June, they appear in small families- 



