P A R U S. 
726 
proper for fattening themfelves to any thing, and indeed 
they hold very tight with their ftrong claws. The bill is 
thick at the bafe ; the upper mandible fomewhat convex ; 
the lower is as ftrong as the upper, and both are a little 
flatted at the fides, and end together in a rounded point. 
The bill, which is ftrong of itfelf, acquires additional 
force by its pofition, fince it is fo fixed as to anfwer ex- 
a6tly to the middle of the head, which is round, and of 
remarkable folidity by the thicknefs of the cranium. 
The forehead is much raifed ; the bafe of the bill is 
lhaded by fome ftiff feathers directed forwards, and partly 
hiding the noftrils. The titmice do not crufh the feeds 
they feed upon; they break them, and pick out the in- 
fide; they have even ftrength enough in their bill to 
pierce the {hell of a nut or an almond, and draw all the 
kernel by bits through the hole. They alfo feed upon 
caterpillars, fpiders, butterfly-eggs, and upon foft infedts 
in general, which they find upon the leaves of trees, or 
pick from under the bark, which they can remove with 
their bill while they cling to the trunk ; and this has. 
made feveral naturalifts fuppofe they had the faculty of 
climbing like the woodpeckers, though they really cannot 
change their pofition without fpreading their wings, and 
taking a fhort flight, or at leaft a fidelong jump, but never 
without a motion of the wings; a mode very different 
from the climbing of woodpeckers. 
They hide their young with great care, making their 
neft out of fight, in the hole of a tree or cleft of a rock, 
or in an old wall. They lay a great many eggs, 
and always retire into holes to fleep ; they alfo accumu¬ 
late a winter ftore of provifions. As for their habits, 
they are lively, alert, ever in motion; it is fuppofed they 
confume a deal of food, as they are always foraging. 
They are heard at the very dawning of day, and are the 
laft of the diurnal birds that retire ; fo that the nodlur- 
nal birds of prey make great deftrudtion among them ; 
and to this they are the more expofed by their own defpe- 
rate courage, for they will attack an owl without hefita- 
tion. If they kill their enemy, they diredtly break the 
lkull with the bill, and feed upon the brains. They are 
naturally cruel, like the Ihrikes. Buffon has feen fome 
tamed ones attack any weaker birds that were put into 
the cage, kill them, and fuck their brains. In this pro- 
penfity the African fpecies, according to Vaillant, are 
exactly fimilar. He adds, that they are not fhy, but may 
beeafily caught in any fnare; that they are eafily tamed, 
and {how a certain degree of attachment towards thofe 
who feed and attend them. 
33. Parus niger, the black titmoufe : fize of the P. ma¬ 
jor. It is entirely black, except a few white ftreaks upon 
the wings and tail; the head and back are however of a 
more decided black than the front and under parts of the 
body. The tail-quills are black for the moft part; but 
the lateral ones have a broad white edging along their 
outer barbs, and their tips are white; the interior ones 
have lefs and lefs white as they come nearer the two mid¬ 
dle feathers, which are entirely black; the two outer 
quills are a little fliorter, the reft equal in length. The 
wing reaches about one third the length of the tail; its 
larger quills are a brownifli black, {lightly edged with 
white; the mid-quills have a broader edging, and the laft 
broader ftill, for upon them the border forms a long white 
ftripe ; the great covgrts are black edged with white ; the 
mid-coverts entirely white; the fmaller ones entirely 
black; fo that the wings are agreeably variegated with 
black and white. The bill is black ; eyes dark brown; 
nails brown, feet and legs lead-colour. The female is 
rather fmaller than the male, and not of fuch a jetty 
black, efpecially on the breaft, where there is an appear¬ 
ance of grey, which becomes lighter as you approach the 
under-coverts of the tail, which are tipped with white. 
In the young birds, the borderings have a rufous tint, 
the black of the upper furface is rather inclined to brown, 
and of the under parts to grey. Thefe birds retire every 
evening to the holes of trees, where their neft is placed, 
which is made of twigs lined very nicely with wool; the 
eggs are fix to eight in number, and entirely white. The 
fong is precifely the fame as that of the P. major ; which 
laft, however, is never found in Africa. The black tit¬ 
moufe is plentiful near the Sondag and Swart-kop rivers, 
and in Caffraria ; but not on the weft coaft, or near the 
Cape. 
34. Parus variegatus, the variegated titmoufe: in 
fhape and general characters this refembles the preceding, 
but is fomewhat fmaller. Found only in the rnimofa- 
thickets of Camdeboo, where it is called Malabartje, or 
“ little Malabar,” on account of its black head. Though 
fmaller than the preceding, the bill is rather longer. At 
firft fight it might be miftaken for a female or young male 
of the laft fpecies. The top of the head is black ; and 
alfo the back of the neck, where the black is bounded by 
a large white fpot, forming a half-collar ; a broad white 
ftripe goes from each corner of the mouth, and covers 
the cheeks, runs upwards underneath the eyes, (which 
are brown,) and downwards till it meets the white on 
the bottom of the neck, and thus enclofes the jet-black 
covering of the throat; the black covers the entire 
throat, and falls down like the corner of a handkerchief 
on the breaft, whence the white runs along the middle of 
the body as far as the belly. The back, fcapulars, and 
mantle, are blue-grey or flate-colour; fo are the flanks, 
but fomewhat lighter than the back. The wing-quills 
are brown black, lifted with white ; this lift is broader as 
the feathers are higher up on the back; the great and 
middle coverts are alfo brown, with broad white edgings; 
but the fmall feathers of the pinions are of the fame 
blue-grey as the back. The upper tail-coverts are black ; 
the under ones light grey, edged with white. The tail 
is, in general, black, but the outer quill on each fide is 
edged and tipped with white; the fecond pair have a nar¬ 
rower edging, the reft are only white at their tips. The 
bill is brownifli black ; legs and feet bluifti, nails almoft 
black. The female is rather fmaller. The white edgings 
are not fo vifible, being of a lefs pure white; the head 
and throat are of a brown black; and all the grey parts 
have a flight tint of rufous. In the young bird, the throat 
is ftill more brown, and the grey parts fawn-colour. Its 
neftingis not known. 
/ 3 . There is a variety of this fpecies, with white wings 
and tail, and the throat fpotted with white. It was in 
company with eight others of the fame fpecies, and was 
the only one fo marked. It was a male, bearing its firft 
plumage; it never had moulted. 
35. Parus fufcus, the brown titmoufe: this is the 
fmalleft African fpecies, and the only one Vaillant met 
with about the Cape, and in the colony. It inhabits the 
rocks and mountains, and is about the fize of the P. cce- 
ruleus, or blue titmoufe: it has the fame ftirieking note, 
at the fame time that it utters the gra-gra gra-gra of the 
other two African fpecies we have mentioned, which laft 
feems to be common to all the titmice when they fee any 
thing that furprifes them, a mifchievous animal or a bird 
of prey. When we fay all the titmice, we mull be under- 
ftood to mean only thofe which Vaillant allow’s to be 
fuch. 
The brown titmoufe of Africa prefers rocky and moun¬ 
tainous places, concealing its neft very carefully in a hole : 
the neft is very large, confifting of mofs, much wool, and 
fome feathers ; the eggs are from eight to fourteen in num¬ 
ber. Similar to the titmice of Europe, the fmalleft fpe¬ 
cies lays the greateft number of eggs. 
The head, neck, throat, and breaft, are black : the large 
black patch on the breaft goes tapering as far as the belly; 
a white ftripe goes from the corners of the mouth, wi¬ 
dens a little on the cheek, runs down the fides of the 
neck, feparating the black of the throat from that of the 
hind-head, at the bottom of which there is alfo a little, 
white fpot. The feathers at the bafe of the bill, and thofe 
which cover the noftrils, are white. The back and fca¬ 
pulars are brown; fo are the large wing-feathers, but 
blacker 
