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BLACK-CAP TITMOUSE. 
PARUS ATRICAPILLUS, LINN. 
PLATE CCCLIII. Mace ann Femate. 
‘HE opinion generally entertained respecting the extensive dis- 
persion of the Black-cap Titmouse, has in all probability originated 
from the great resemblance which it bears to the Carolina Titmouse, 
Parus Carolinensis, described at p. 341 of the second volume of this 
work ; that species being now known to extend its spring and summer 
migrations as far eastward as the State of New Jersey, where it has 
been found breeding by my friend Epwarp Harnis, Esq. of Moores- 
town. The Black-cap, on the other hand, is rarely observed farther 
south, and then only in winter, when it proceeds as far as beyond the 
middle portions of Maryland. from whence I have at that season re- 
ceived specimens in spirits, collected by my friend Colonel THEopoRE 
AnveErson of Baltimore. Westward of the Alleghanies it extends as 
far as Kentucky in winter, but at the approach of spring returns north- 
ward. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey some are known to breed ; 
but as the Carolina Titmouse breeds there also, it is difficult to say 
which of them is the most numerous, they being so like each other 
that one is apt to confound them. In the State of New York it is 
abundant, and often rears two broods in the season; as you proceed 
eastward you may observe it in all places favourable to its habits ; and, 
according to Dr RicHarpson, it is found as far north as Lat. 65°, it 
being in the Fur Countries the most common bird, “ a small family in- 
habiting almost every thicket.” None were seen by Dr TownsEnp 
either on the Rocky Mountains or about the Columbia River, where, 
on the contrary, Parus Carolinensis is abundant, as it is also in the Texas, 
where I found it breeding in the spring of 1837. Although bearing a 
considerable resemblance to the Marsh Titmouse of Europe, P. palus- 
tris, it differs from that species not only in colour, but more especially 
in its habits and notes. 
Hardy, smart, restless, industrious, and frugal, the Black-cap Tit- 
mouse ranges through the forest during the summer, and retiring to its 
more secluded parts, as if to ensure a greater degree of quiet, it usu- 
