BLACK-CAPT TITMOUSE. 
137 
The House Wren inhabits the whole of the United States, 
in all of which it is migratory. It leaves Pennsylvania in 
September ; I have sometimes, though rarely, seen it in the 
beginning of October. It is four inches and a half long, and 
five and three quarters in extent, the whole upper parts of a 
deep brown, transversely crossed with black, except the head 
and neck, which is plain ; throat, breast, and cheeks, light clay 
colour ; belly and vent, mottled with black, brown, and white ; 
tail, long, cuneiform, crossed with black ; legs and feet, light 
clay colour ; bill, black, long, slightly curved, sharp pointed, 
and resembling that of the genus Certhia , considerably ; the 
whole plumage below the surface is bluish ash ; that on the 
rump having large round spots of white, not perceivable unless 
separated with the hand. The female differs very little in 
plumage from the male. 
BLACK-CAPT TITMOUSE. — PARUS ATRICAPILLUS. 
Plate VIII. Fig. 4. 
Parus atricapillus, Linn. Syst. i. 341, 6 — Gmel. Syst. i. 1008 La Mesange a tete 
noire de Canada, JBuffon, v. 408. — Canada Titmouse, Arct. Zool. ii. No. 328. — 
Lath. Syn. iv. 542, 9. — Peale's Museum, No. 7380. 
PAR US A TRICAP ILL US. — Linnaeus. * 
Parus atricapillus, Bonap. Synop. p. 100. — North. Zool. p. 226. 
This is one of our resident birds, active, noisy, and restless ; 
hardy beyond any of his size, braving the severest cold of our 
continent as far north as the country round Hudson’s Bay, and 
always appearing most lively in the coldest weather. The 
males have a variety of very sprightly notes, which cannot, 
* This is very closely allied to the Parus palustris, the Marsh Titmouse 
of Europe ; but it is exclusively American, and ranges extensively to the 
north. The authors of the Northern Zoology mention them as one of the 
most common birds in the Fur countries; a family inhabits almost every 
thicket. — Ed. 
