CRESTED TITMOUSE.
PARUS CRISTATUS, Linn.
Parus cristatus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 340 (1766); Nwm. iv.
p. 42; Macg. ii. p. 450; Hewitson, i. p. 154; Yarr.
ed. 4, i. p. 499.
Lopliophanes cristatus, Dresser, iii. p. 151.
Mesange huppee, French; Hauben-Meise, German; Capu-
chino, Spanish.
Although there are several records of the occurrence
of this pretty and remarkable little bird in England
and Ireland, some at least are not clearly or satisfactorily
proven, and from a British point of view we may
fairly consider it to be virtually restricted to certain
districts in the Highlands of Scotland. My friend
Lieut.-Colonel Irby, who has very recently visited a
breeding-locality of this species, has furnished me with
the Mowing remarks “ The Crested Titmouse is
common in the Spey district, where there are old and
decayed pine-trees, but is very local—found in one
small valley and absent in the next. A hole about
eight inches deep and enlarged at the bottom is excavated
vertically in a rotten fir-stump or decayed alder,
and the nest, which is very scant, consists of moss lined