PARIDyE, TITMICE, OK CHICKADEES. GEN. 11. 



79 



ij. Blach-headed Gnatcatoher. $ bluish-ash, with wholo crown Ijhick. $ 

 ^^ - ftath crown lilvc back;, outer tail feather Avhite-edged onl}^ Southwest 



jr 



United States. Cass., 111., 164, pi. 27; Bd., 382; Coop., 31. melanura. 

 / Plumbeous Gnatcatclier. Duller 

 leaden gray ; crown like back ; a 

 white, and also a black (latter not 

 in 9 ) superciliarjr line ; whole outer d 

 web of outer tail feather, and its tip 

 for some distance, white. Arizona. 

 Bd.,382; Coop., 37. . plumbea. 



Family CHAMiEIDiE. Wren- 

 tits. 



Recentlj' framed for a shigle species, 



. T, ... . 1 Fig. 20. Under h^., bliie-trray p:natcritcher; nppor 



mncll hkc a titmouse m general appear- lig., blark-heiKlerl g.mtcatche?; c, tail of tl.e same; d, 

 1 , .,, ,1 , , • 1 j_i tail of ijluuibeous jrnatcatcher; all of natural size. 



ance, but with the tarsus not evidently '■ ^ 



scutellate in front ; rounded wings much shorter than the graduated tail ; lores 

 bristly, and plumage extraordinarilj^ soft and lax. With the general habits of 

 wrens, with which the species was formerly associated. 



11. Genus CHAMPA Gambel. 



- Fasciated Tit, or Ground Wren. Dull grayish or olivaceous-brown, 

 below paler and more fulvous ; throat and breast streaked with darker ; 

 wings and tail brown, obscurely waved with dusky ; whitish ring round 

 eye ; iris white. 5J-G ; wing only 24— 2J, tail 3J ; the graduation an inch. 

 Coast region of California. A curious bird, with no special resemblance to 

 any other species. Cass., III., 36, pi. 7; Bd., 370; Coop., 39. fasciata. 



Family VKRYDM. Titmice, or CMckadees. 



Ours are all small (under 7 in. long) birds, at once distinguished by having 10 

 primaries, the 1st much shorter than the 2d; wings barely or not longer than the 

 tail ; tail-feathers not stiff nor acuminate ; tarsi scutellate, longer than the middle 

 toe, anterior toes much soldered at base ; nostrils concealed bj' dense tufts, and 

 bill compressed, stout, straight, unnotched and much shorter than the head ; charac- 

 ters that readily marked them off from all their allies, as wrens, creepers, etc. 

 Reallj', they are hard to distinguish, technicallj-, from jays ; but all our jaj-s are 

 much over 7 inches long. 



Thejr are distributed over North America, but the crested species are rather 

 southern, and all but one of them western. Most of them are hardy birds, endur- 

 ing the rigors of winter without inconvenience, and as a consequence, none of 

 them are properly migratory. They are musical, after a fashion of their own, 

 chirping a quaint ditty ; are active, restless, and very heedless of man's presence ; 

 and eat everything. Some of the western species build astonishingly large and 

 curiously shaped nests, pensile, like a bottle or purse with a hole in one side ; 

 others live in knotholes, and similar snuggeries that thej'' are said to dig out for 

 themselves. They are veiy prolific, laying numerous eggs, and raising more than 

 one brood a season ; the young closelj^ resemble the parents, and there are no 



