Birds of America
By John James Audubon, F. R. SS. L. & E.
VOLUME II.
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, rounded or graduated, of twelve rather narrow feathers.