PASSER1X.E. 



197 



which shake dust into their feathers instead of bathing], that run and nestle on the ground, [and 

 ascend singing to a vast height in the air]. 



The greater number have a straight bill, moderately stout and pointed : as 



The Sky Lark (A. arvensis, Lin.)-— This species is known to every one for its fine and varied song, and on account 

 of" the quantities that are brought to tabie. 



The Crested Lark (A. cristata, Lin.).— Similar in size and plumage, with longer coronal feathers, and of less 

 common occurrence than the preceding. It approaches villages, [and habitually seeks its food on the high road ; 

 is remarkable for never visiting this country, though not rare on the opposite coast, even in the vicinity of Calais.] 



The Wood Lark (./. arborea, Lin.). — Less, with a shorter tail, and the crest rather less elongated ; a pale streak 

 is continued round the occiput. [This delightful vocalist, which particularly frequents woodland hilly districts, 

 is remarkable for the delicacy of its tones, which are peculiarly soft and plaintive. 



Nine others are found ill Europe, either occasionally or habitually, of which one only — the Shore Lark (A. alpes- 

 tris), a northern species, occurs as a very rare straggler in Britain. Several have much stouter bills than the 

 foregoing; and three or four, including A. alpestris, a pair of aigrettes, or pointed tufts of feathers, on the head. 



The Larks, which have been much subdivided by systematists, compose a very isolated family, well character- 

 ized by tlieir peculiar nestling plumage, which is entirely shed (including all the primaries) before the first winter. 

 With the exception of one species, they are peculiar to the eastern hemisphere. Several have the beak compara- 

 tively stout and thick.] 



The Tits (Parus, Lin.) — 



Have the beak slender, [rather] short, straight and conical, with little hairs at its base, and nostrils 

 concealed by the plumage. They are very active bttle birds, continually flitting from spray to spray, 

 and suspending themselves in all kinds of attitudes, rending apart the seeds on which they feed, [which 

 they hold firm with the foot while piercing a small hole in the husk, through which they extract the 

 kernel], devouring insects whenever they see them, and not even sparing small birds when they 

 happen to find them sick and are able to destroy them. They store up provisions of grain ; nidificate 

 in the holes of trees, and produce more eggs than the generality of Passerinae. 



[These little birds are miniatures of the Jays, and equally omnivorous, subsisting on fruit in addition to the 

 varied regimen above mentioned. As previously stated, they pertain to the same natural group as the Falcuncu- 

 lus, placed by the author among the Shrikes, and have nothing whatever to do with the present series. 



Of the European species, two have shorter and thicker bills, and differ in some other minutiae. Their plumage 

 is prettily marked with light blue. They are the Common Blue Tit (P. cteruleus), so abundant in Britain, and 

 the P. cyaneus of Pallas. The rest have the bill longer and more pointed. The Great Tit (P. major), of pleasing 

 colours, with a black median list down the belly ; the Marsh Tit (P. palustris), with merely a black cap and throat ; 

 the Cole Tit (P. aier), with a conspicuous white spot on the hind-neck, and very slender bill ; and the Crested Tit 

 (P. cristatus), with a pointed crest, not very dissimilar from that of a Lapw ing, and which is rare in this country ; 

 inhabit the British islands, the first four being every where common. 



There are a vast number of others. 



The Bottletit (Mecistura, Leach), — 



Included by the author in Parus, should unquestionably be separated. The beak is very short, its 

 upper mandible curving slightly over the lower: diet exclusively insectivorous. 



The Common Bottletit (.V. vulgaris ; Parus caudal us, Lin.). — Avery small species, with a long graduated tail, 

 the medial feathers of which are shorter than the next pair: the young are very differently coloured from the 

 adults, and have the tail still longer. This curious little bird builds a most elegantly domed nest with a small 

 side opening, upon a forked branch, and rears a numerous progeny, which follow their parents till the return of 

 spring. The form of its feet, character of plumage, habits, all are different from those of the true Pari : its eye- 

 lids are naked, and of an orange-yellow colour. 



Very nearly allied to the Bottletits, there is a group of small Australian birds, 



The Azurixes (.Malurus, Vieillot), — 



Which have a longer beak, resembling that of many Bee-fins, and the old males of which are distin- 

 guished by their intensely vivid tints of verditer and azure : they vary singularly in the number "t" 

 tail-feathers, which, in one species, are reduced to four, that are extremely long and gauze-like, being 

 the lowest number found throughout the class, where an] exist at all. 



The species are numerous ; resemble the Bottletit in their mode of life, and manner of nidification ; some of them 

 even in the peculiar form of the tail; the medial or uropygial feathers of wlm ii air shorter than the next pair, 

 and the exterior successively graduated. The African species sometimes referred to this genus have but little 

 affinity to it.] 



'I'm. Iii.i in im.s [(Calamop/iilux, Leach)] — 



Differ from the Tits in the form of their upper mandible, the tip of which curves over the lower. 



