_Psaltriparus_, BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XXXI, 1850, 478. (Type, _P.
melanotis_.)
_Ægithaliscus_, CABANIS, Museum Heineanum, 1851, 90. (Type, _Parus
erythrocephalus_.)
_Psaltria_, CASSIN, Ill. N. Am. Birds, 1853, 19.
GEN. CHAR. Size very small and slender. Bill very small, short,
compressed, and with its upper outline much curved for the terminal
half. Upper mandible much deeper than under. Tail long, slender, much
graduated; much longer than the wings; the feathers very narrow. Tarsi
considerably longer than the middle toe. No black on the crown or
throat. Eyes white in some specimens, brown in others. Nest
purse-shaped; eggs unspotted, white.
No bird of this genus belongs to the eastern portion of the United
States. The three species may be defined as follows:—
A. Head striped with black on the sides.
P. melanotis. The stripes passing under the eye and uniting on
the occiput. _Hab._ Eastern Mexico
B. No stripes on the head.
P. minimus. Back ashy; crown light brown. _Hab._ Pacific
Province of United States … var. _minimus._
Back and crown uniform ashy. _Hab._ Middle Province and
southern Rocky Mountains of United States … var. _plumbeus._
Psaltriparus melanotis, BONAP.