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FAMILY X. PARINJE. TITS. 



Bill very short or of moderate length, straight, strong, compressed, rather 

 sharp; both mandibles with the dorsal line sloping and slightly convex, the 

 sides convex, the edges sharp; notches obsolete. Nostrils basal, roundish, 

 concealed by the feathers. Head rather large, roundish; neck short; body 

 short, and rather full. Feet of moderate length, rather stout; tarsus rather 

 short, compressed, with eight distinct scutella; toes large, the three anterior 

 united as far as the second joint, the hind toe much stronger and flattened 

 beneath; claws rather long, stout, arched, much compressed, acute. Plumage 

 very soft, blended, and full. Feathers at the base of the bill directed for- 

 wards. Wings of moderate length, much rounded, with the first quill very 

 small, the fourth and fifth longest. Tail rather long, slender, of twelve 

 narrow rounded feathers. Tongue emarginate and papillate at the base, 

 abrupt at the tip, with four bristles. CEsophagus narrow, without dilatation; 

 proventriculus oblong; stomach a rather strong oblong gizzard, with the 

 muscles distinct, the epithelium dense, thin, longitudinally rugous; intestine 

 short, of moderate width; coeca very small; cloaca oblong. Trachea simple, 

 with four pairs of inferior laryngeal muscles. 



Genus I.— PARUS, Linn. TIT. 



Bill short, stout; upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly decurved 

 toward the end, the edges overlapping, with a slight lobe or festoon near the 

 base, destitute of notch, rather acute; lower mandible with the dorsal outline 

 slightly convex, the edges direct, the tip rather acute. Nostrils roundish, 

 covered by bristly feathers. Head rather large, roundish; neck short. 

 Feet proportionally large; tarsus of moderate length; hind toe very large 

 and strong, the two lateral nearly equal, the outer adherent at the base; claws 

 large, much compressed, very acute. Wings of moderate length, convex. 

 Tail long, or of moderate length, rounded or graduated, of twelve rather 

 narrow feathers. 



