CRESTED TITMOUSE. 1 * l 



seeds, and hickory nuts, broken and thrown into it. However, 

 if the cage be made of willows, and the bird not much hurt, 

 he will soon make his way through them. The great con- 

 cavity of the lower side of the wings and tail of this genus of 

 birds, is a strong characteristic, and well suited to their short 

 irregular flight. 



This species is also found over the whole United States ; 

 but is most numerous towards the north. It extends also to 

 Hudson's Bay ; and, according to Latham, is found in Den- 

 mark, and in the southern parts of Greenland, where it is 

 called Avingarsah. If so, it probably inhabits the continent 

 of North America from sea to sea. 



The crested titmouse is six inches long, and seven inches 

 and a half in extent. The whole upper parts, a dull cinereous 

 or lead colour, except the front, which is black, tinged with 

 reddish ; whole lower parts, dirty white, except the sides under 

 the wings, which are reddish orange ; legs and feet, light blue ; 

 bill, black, short, and pretty strong; wing-feathers, relieved 

 with dusky on their inner vanes ; eye, dark hazel ; lores, white ; 

 the head, elegantly ornamented with a high, pointed, almost 

 upright crest ; tail, a little forked, considerably concave below, 

 and of the same colour above as the back ; tips of the wings, 

 dusky ; tongue, very short, truncate, and ending in three or 

 four sharp points. The female cannot be distinguished from 

 the male by her plumage, unless in its being something duller, 

 for both are equally marked with reddish orange on the sides 

 under the wings, which some foreigners have made the distin- 

 guishing mark of the male alone. 



The nest is built in a hollow tree, the cavity often dug by 

 itself ; the female begins to lay early in May ; the eggs are 

 usually six, pure white, with a few very small specks of red 

 near the great end. The whole family, in the month of July, 

 hunt together, the parents keeping up a continual chatter, as 

 if haranguing and directing their inexperienced brood.* 



* This beautiful and attractive race of birds, the genuine titmice, 

 have a geographical distribution over the whole world, — South America 



