II. GENUS LOPHOPHANES. Kaup. Skiz. Entw. Eur. Thierw. (1829.)
Crested, bill moderate, strong, conic, entire, upper mandible rather the longer and slightly curved, nostrils basal, rounded and concealed by projecting feathers. Wings rather long, with the fourth and fifth primaries usually longest, tail rather long, legs and feet robust, the latter rather large, and provided with curved, strong and very sharp claws. Prevailing color of all known American species, cinereous.
This genus comprises the crested species of Europe and America, which were formerly included in the genus Parus, Linn., but which evidently form a natural and easily characterized group, fully entitled to generic distinction.
1. Lophophanes bicolor. (Linn) The crested Chickadee.
Parus bicolor. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. p. 340, (1766.)
Length about 6½ inches. Front black, crest and body above dark cinereous, tinged with greenish on the back, below ashy white, flanks reddish brown. Bill and legs nearly black. Sexes alike.
Hab. Eastern North America. Spec. in Mus. Acad. Philada.
2. Lophophanes atricristatus. (Cassin). The black-crested Chickadee.
Parus atricristatus. Cassin, Proc. Acad. Philada. V. p. 103, (Oct. 1850.)
Length (of skin) about 6 inches. Male—front, ashy white, crest black, entire plumage above cinereous, beneath ashy white, flanks reddish brown. Bill and legs black. Female, with the crest ashy, not black. Young, like the female, but with crest tinged with brown.