218 
PARUS BICOLOR. 
parts of Greenland, where it is called avingarsak. 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, con- 
siderably 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 distinguishing 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. 
