142 
I 
FAMILY X. PARING. 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. (Esophagus 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 ; cceca 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, rouuded or graduated, of twelve rather 
narrow feathers. 
