audible; a second is a louder chirp or twitter, and a third is of a hoarser kind.'

In the Portraits d'Oyseaux the qualities of this species are thus summed up :

'Ceste Mesange est à la longue queue Oyseau petit, comme est le Roytelet: Du demeurant, inconstant, et follet,

Par son hault chant sa voix est bien cogneue.' The Bearded Titmouse. Description.-Male.-Black between the bill and the eye, and these black feathers are very long and prolonged on each side on the lateral part of the neck; head and occiput bluish ash; throat and front of the neck pure white, which blends on the breast and the middle of the belly into a rosy hue; nape, back, rump, feathers of the middle of the tail and sides fine rust-colour; great coverts of the wings deep black, bordered with deep rusty on the external barb, and reddish white on the internal barb; quills bordered with white; feathers of the under part of the tail deep black; lateral tail-feathers bordered and terminated with grey; tail long, much graduated; bill and iris fine yellow. Length 6 inches and 2 or 3 lines.

Female. No black moustaches; throat and front of the neck tarnished white; upper parts of the head and body rusty, shaded with brown; on the middle of the back some longitudinal black spots; under tail-coverts bright rusty.

Young at their leaving the nest, and before their first moult, with nearly the whole of the plumage of very bright reddish; a good deal of black on the external barbs of the quills and tail-feathers; on the middle of the back a very large space of deep black. After the first moult nothing of the deep black of the back remains but some longitudinal spots.

Varieties.-More or less marked with white or whitish; the colours of the plumage often feebly developed. (Temm.) This is the Mésange Barbue ou Moustache of the French; Bartmeise of the Germans; Least Butcher-Bird of Edwards; Reed Pheasant (provincial) of the modern British, and Y Barfog of the Welsh.

N.B. M. Temminck remarks that the Zahnschäblige Bartmeise of Brehm is a species or subspecies founded only on individuals which have been long caged, such as may be seen in the Dutch markets, where numbers are sold. Some of these captives come to London, where they may be bought for some four or five shillings a pair. The iris and bill in the living bird are of a delicate orangecolour.

Geographical Distribution.-The north of Europe, England, Sweden; Asia, on the shores of the Caspian Sea; nowhere so abundant as in Holland; accidentally, on passage, in France. (Temm.) In the third part of the second edition of his Manuel, M. Temminck says, that in Italy it is as common in the marshes of Ostia, as in those of Holland near Amsterdam. As to Sweden, Pennant also states that it is rarely found there; but neither Müller, Brisson, nor Nilsson notices it in that locality. Mr. Yarrell gives the best summary known to us of the recorded distribution of the species in the British Islands :-South and west of London the Bearded Tit has been found in Surrey about some ponds near Godalming; in Sussex near Winchelsea; and on the banks of the Thames from London upwards as far as Oxford. Pennant says it has been taken near Gloucester. In Cornwall, as I learn from Mr. Rodd, it is considered very rare; a single specimen was obtained in the neighbourhood of Helston, which is now in the collection made by the late Humphrey Grylls, Esq. It is not included in the catalogue of the Birds of Shropshire and North Wales, lately published in the "Annals of Natural History" by my friend Mr. Thomas Eyton; but is said to have been taken in Lancashire; and a single specimen is recorded as Irish by Mr. Thompson, on the authority of Mr. W. S. Wall, a bird-preserver in Dublin, which example was received from the banks of the Shannon. Eastward from London the Bearded Tit inhabits the various reed-beds on the banks of the Thames, both in Kent and Essex. It is found also in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire, but has not been traced in this country north of the Humber.'

Habits, Food, &c.-Dr. Leach had observed the fondness of this species for marshy and reedy spots, the shape of its open cup-shaped nest placed on the ground, and the nature of its food-seeds, insects and their larvæ, and small

shelled snails. He had also remarked that the sides of the stomach in this bird were muscular and much thickened, forming a gizzard which the true tits do not possess; and that this structure of the stomach afforded the power of breaking down the shells of the testaceous mollusks-Succinea amphibia and Pupa muscorum-many of which had been found comminuted therein. Still, from the comparative rarity of this bird in Britain, and the impervious nature of its haunts, its habits were comparatively little known. Mr. Hoy and Mr. Dykes have supplied much interesting information on this head.

The former states that the Bearded Tit begins building towards the end of April, and that the nest is composed on the outside of dead leaves of the reed and sedge, intermixed with a few pieces of grass, and lined with the top of the reed. He describes it as generally placed in a tuft of coarse grass or rushes near the ground, on the margin of the dikes, in the fens; and sometimes as fixed among the reeds that are broken down, but never suspended between the stems. Their food, he says, is principally the seed of the reed, and so intent were they on their search for it, that he had taken them with a bird-limed twig attached to a fishing-rod. When alarmed by any sudden noise, or the passing of a hawk, they uttered their shrill musical notes, and concealed themselves among the thick bottoms of the reeds, but they soon resumed their station, climbing the upright stems with the greatest facility.

Mr. Dykes had an opportunity of examining three specimens, and he found their crops completely filled with the Succinea amphibia in a perfect state, the shells unbroken and singularly closely packed together. The crop of one, not larger than a hazel nut, contained twenty Succinea, some of them of a good size, and four Pupa muscorum, with the shells also entire. The stomach was full of small fragments of shell, in a greater or less degree of decomposition. Numerous sharp angular fragments of quartz which had been swallowed had with the action of the stomach effected the comminution of the shells.

Two nests obtained by Mr. Yarrell from the parish of Horsey, were sustained only an inch or two above the ground by the strength of the stems of the coarse grass on which they were fixed. Each was composed entirely of dried bents, the finer ones forming the lining; others increasing in substance made up the exterior. Mr. Yarrell states the number of eggs at from four to six, rather smaller than those of the Great Titmouse, and less pointed; eight lines and a half long by six lines and a half in breadth, white, and sparingly marked with pale red lines or scratches. (British Birds.)

Penduline Titmouse.

Description.-Male.-Bill black, straight, a little elongated, and pointed; tail short; top of the head and nape ash-colour; forehead, space between the eye and the pure bill, region of the eyes, and feathers of the orifices of the ears deep black; back and scapulars reddish grey: rump ash-colour; throat white, the other lower parts whitish, with rosy tints; coverts of the wings chesnut, bordered and terminated with whitish rusty and white; wings and tail blackish, bordered with whitish rusty; tail-feathers terminated with white; iris yellow. Length 4 inches 3 or

4 lines.

Female.-Rather less than the male; the black on the forehead not so large nor so pure; the band which passes over the eyes and terminates at the ears, bluish black; ash-colour of the head less pure; upper parts more clouded with rusty, but there is a yellowish tint on the middle of the belly.

The young up to their first moult have the colours brighter; they have not the forehead black.

This is the Remiz or Mésange de Pologne of the French,

and Beutel Meise of the Germans.

Geographical Distribution.-Southern and eastern provinces of Europe principally. Russia, Poland, Hungary, Austria, along the banks of the Danube, where it breeds, south of France and Italy.

and mostly overhangs the water; sometimes however it is interwoven among the reed-stems. The eggs, which are pure white marked with some red spots or blotches, are generally six in number.

ASIATIC TITMICE.

Example.-Parus Xanthogenys.

Description.-Head with a full crest of black feathers; occiput, superciliary stripe, and cheeks yellow; car-coverts black; back olive; wings and tail black, the former spotted, and the latter tipped with white; a broad black line passing down the throat, and extending along the middle of the abdomen; sides of the chest and flanks pale yellow; bill and feet black; size rather less than that of the Greater Tit, Parus major. (Gould.)

Locality, Habits, &c.-The Himalaya Mountains; figured and described, in his Century of Birds, by Mr. Gould, who remarks that the species bears a close resemblance to our Parus major, from which it differs principally in its crested head. He further observes that the brilliancy of its colouring is not surpassed by that of any of its congeners, and that its mode of life strictly assimilates to that of the Pari in general.

Habits, Food, &c.-M. Temminck has placed this species together with the Bearded Tit in his second Section of Titmice, the Riverains; and indeed the Penduline Titmouse, both in habits and in the choice of its food, has many points in common with the other species above described. Like the Bearded Tit, the Penduline Titmouse haunts the reedy banks of rivers, or the margins of widewatered' shores, and its food consists not only of the seeds of the reeds, but of aquatic insects and mollusks. It derives its name from its pensile purse-like or flask-like nest, generally suspended at the end of some willow twig or other flexible branch of an aquatic tree. This skilfullywrought cradle is woven from the cotton-like wool or down of the willow or poplar, with an opening in the side for the ingress and egress of the artificers and their young,

Parus Xanthogervs. (Gould.) AMERICAN TITMICE.

Example.-Parus atricapillus, Black-cap Titmouse. Description.-Male.-Upper aspect of the head, nape, chin, and throat velvet-black. A white line from the nostrils through the eye, spreads out on the side of the neck; back lead-coloured, glossed with yellowish grey, quill and tail feathers blackish grey, edged with greyish white; under-plumage brownish white, deepening in some specimens to yellowish grey; bill pitch black; legs bluish; total length five inches six lines. (Fauna BorealiAmericana.)

Some ornithologists have considered this bird identical with the Marsh Titmouse, Parus palustris, of Europe. M. Temminck in the first part of his Manuel declares that individuals sent to him from North America had absolutely the same distribution of colours on their plumage as those killed in Europe, only the hues of the American individuals were more pure. In the third part, where he notices Parus palustris, and adds to its synonyms, he says nothing to contradict his original observation; and in the first part he gives Parus atricapillus, La Mésange à tête noire du Canada (Briss.), and the Black-cap and Canada Titmouse (Lath.), as synonyms of Parus palustris.

Mr. Swainson and Dr. Richardson however, after referring to the opinions of those who have considered the European and the American bird as the same, state that the two species appear to them to be sufficiently distinct. According to them this tit is the Parus atricapillus, Linn., who by the way gives Canada as its habitat; Mésange à tête noire de Canada, Buff.; Black-capt Titmouse, Parus atricapillus, Wils.; Parus atricapillus, Bonap.; Peecheh

keeskeshees of the Cree Indians; and Mésange of the Canadian voyageurs: and they observe that its loose plumage, like that of the Canadian jay, is well qualified for its protection in the severe arctic winters. According to Nuttall, Chicadee' is the familiar name for this bird. Geographical Distribution.-Supposing the bird to be a distinct species. The whole width of the American continent, from lat. 65° to the southern districts of the United States, throughout the year: one of the most common birds in the fur-countries, a small family inhabiting almost every thicket. (Fauna Boreali-Americana.) In winter resident around Hudson's Bay, and has been met with at 62° on the north-west coast. Difficult to say in what part of the United States it is most common, so generally and equally has it colonized the temperate parts. In winter abundant in all the forests of the southern states to Florida, and probably extending its visits into Mexico. (Nuttall.)

Habits, Food, &c.-The author last quoted gives a graphic description of the manners of this titmouse, which would suffer by an attempt to lay it before the reader in any other terms than his own.

6

In all these countries,' says the observing author of the Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and of Canada, in autumn families of them are seen chattering and roving through the woods, busily engaged in gleaning their multifarious food, along with the preceding species (Parus bicolor), Nuthatches, and Creepers, the whole forming a busy, active, and noisy group, whose manners, food, and habits bring them together in a common pursuit. Their diet varies with the season; for besides insects, their larvæ and eggs, of which they are more particularly fond, in the month of September they leave the woods and assemble familiarly in our orchards and gardens, and even enter the thronging cities in quest of that support which their native forests now deny them. Large seeds of many kinds, particularly those which are oily, as the sun-flower, and pine, and spruce-kernels, are now sought after. These seeds, in the usual manner of the genus, are seized in the claws and held against the branch_until picked open by the bill to obtain their contents. Fat of various kinds is also greedily eaten, and they regularly watch the retreat of the hog-killers, in the country, to glean up the fragments of meat which adhere to the places where the carcasses have been suspended. At times they feed upon the wax of the candle-berry myrtle (Myrica cerifera); they likewise pick up crumbs near the houses, and search the weather-boards and even the window-sills familiarly for their lurking prey, and are particularly fond of spiders and the eggs of destructive moths, especially those of the canker-worm, which they greedily destroy in all its stages of existence. It is said that they sometimes attack their own species when the individual is sickly, and aim their blows at the skull with a view to eat the brain; but this barbarity I have never witnessed. In winter, when satisfied, they will descend to the snow-bank beneath, and quench their thirst by swallowing small pieces; in this way, their various and frugal meal is always easily supplied; and hardy, and warmly clad in light and very downy feathers, they suffer very little inconvenience from the inclemency of the seasons. Indeed in the winter, or about the close of October, they at times appear so enlivened as already to show their amorous attachment, like our domestic cock, the male approaching his mate with fluttering and vibrating wings; and in the spring season the males have obstinate engagements, darting after each other with great velocity and anger. Their roost, I suspect, is in the hollows of decayed trees, where they also breed, laying their eggs merely in the dry rotten wood, without any attempt at a nest; these are from 6 to 12 in number, white with specks of brown-red. begin to lay about the middle or close of April, and though they commonly make use of natural or deserted holes of the woodpecker, yet at times they are said to excavate a cavity for themselves with much labour. The first brood take wing about the 7th or 10th of June, and they have sometimes a second towards the end of July. The young, as soon as fledged, have all the external marks of the adult, the head is equally black, and they chatter and skip about with all the agility and self-possession of their

They

N.B. Mr. Nuttall has, here, the following note:-In Europe however this kind, if the same species, as asserted by Temminck, is said to dig out an excavation in decayed willows, in which it makes a nest of moss, thistledown, and sometimes a little wool and feathers.'

parents, who appear, nevertheless, very solicitous for their safety. From this time the whole family continue to associate together through the autumn and winter. They seem to move by concert from tree to tree, keeping up a continued 'tshe-de-de-de-de and 'tshe-de-de-de-dait, preceded by a shrill whistle, all the while busily engaged picking round the buds and branches, hanging from their extremities and proceeding often in reversed postures, head downwards, like so many tumblers, prying into every crevice of the bark, and searching around the roots and in every possible retreat of their insect prey or its larvæ. If the object chance to fall, they industriously descend to the ground and glean it up with the utmost economy.'

On seeing a cat, or other object of natural antipathy, the Chicadee, like the peevish jay, scolds in a loud, angry, and hoarse note, like 'T'she, daigh, daigh, daigh. Among the other notes of this species, I have heard a call like tshe-de-jay, tshe-de-jay, the two first syllables being a slender chirp, with the jay strongly pronounced. The only note of this bird which may be called a song, is one which is frequently heard at intervals in the depth of the forest, at times of the day, usually, when other birds are silent. We then may sometimes hear in the midst of this solitude two feeble, drawling, clearly whistled, and rather melancholy notes, like 'te-derry, and sometimes ye-perrit, and, occasionally, but much more rarely, in the same wiry, whistling, solemn tone, 'phebé. The young, in winter, also sometimes drawl out these contemplative strains. In all cases the first syllable is very high and clear, the second word drops low, and ends like a feeble plaint. This is nearly all the quaint song ever attempted by the Chicadee; and is perhaps the two notes sounding like the whetting of a saw, remarked of this bird* in England by Mr. White, in his Natural History of Selborne (vol. i.). On fine days about the commencement of October, I have heard the Chicadee sometimes for half an hour at a time, attempt a lively, petulant warble, very different from his ordinary notes. On these occasions he appears to flirt about, still hunting for his prey, but almost in an ecstasy of delight and vigour. But after a while the usual drawling note again occurs. These birds, like many others, are very subject to the attacks of vermin, and they accumulate in great numbers around that part of the head and front which is least accessible to their feet.'

The European bird is supposed to be partial to marshy places. Ours has no such predilection, nor does the American bird, that I can learn, even lay up or hide any store