P. borealis, and has been very generally acknowledged as a
distinct species, though hy some the P. alpestris just mentioned
has been confounded with it. Still further to the
eastward other allies of P. borealis, to which the names of
P. baicalensis and P. kamchatkensis have been given, are
said to he found. In North America this group of birds is
represented by P . atricapillus with its local forms, P . septen-
trionalis, P. carolinensis and P . occidentalis—all originally
described as distinct species, but now reduced to the rank of
varieties hy Dr. Cones.
The hill is black: the irides dark h azel: the forehead,
crown and nape black, slightly glossed with bluish-green;
the cheeks and sides of the neck dull white, the latter
tinged with buff; the hack and wing-coverts hair-brown;
the rump and upper tail-coverts nearly the same, but lighter
and inclining to dull buff; quills blackish-brown, those of
the wing edged with hair-brown ; the chin black; the throat
and breast, dull white; belly, flanks and lower tail-coverts,
tinged with dull huff; quills beneath, shining grey: legs,
toes and claws, bluish-black.
The whole length is four inches and a half. From the
carpal joint to the end of the wing two inches and three-
eigliths : the third primary shorter than the fourth, which is
equal to the fifth, and these two are the longest in the wing.
The sexes do not differ in plumage : the young resemble
the adults, hut have the colours less bright.
By many authors the Paridce are thought to bear affinity
to the Crows, and some members of both groups certainly
have in common the habit of grasping their prey with one
foot while picking it. I t may be safely said that birds more
useful to the gardener and the planter than the four species
of Titmouse now described do not exist in Britain. The
worst that can he proved against them is that they occasionally
help themselves, to hazel-nuts and walnuts, and that
sometimes a bird acquires the trick of taking bees from their
hives. This last must be regarded as an individual peculiarity,
and when observed should, in the interest of the whole
race, he speedily stopped by the destruction of the malefactor.
PA SS ERE S. P A R ID J i.
P a ru s c r is t a t u s , Linnaeus*.
THE CRESTED TITMOUSE.
Parus cristatus.
T h e C r e s t e d T itm o u s e is as local in Britain as the
species already described are common. I t was first included
as a British Bird by Walcott, who, in 1789, said, “ This
bird has been lately observed in Scotland, once in a considerable
flock.” In 1802 Montagu stated that it was “ not
uncommon amongst the large tracts of pines in the north
of Scotland, particularly in the forest of Glemnoorf, the
property of the Duke of Gordon, from whence we have seen
it.” In the same year Latham (Gen. Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 255)
confirmed the fact of the species being plentiful in some
parts of Scotland, especially in the pine-forests, whence, he
* Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 310 (1766).
T Mr. Gray informs the Editor that the very old timber, consisting chiefly of
Scotch firs and oaks, in this forest, the name of which is more correctly spelt
Glenmore, was cut down towards the end of the last century.