io8 The Scottish Naturalist. 



Ampelis garrulus, Linn. (Waxwing or Chatterer.) 



There is no record, that I am aware, of this species ever hav- 

 ing been noticed, but as it has frequently been observed in the 

 counties adjoining the district, it may possibly turn out to be an 

 occasional visitant. 



27, Parus major, Linn. (Great Tit.) 

 Resident, and common throughout the district all the year, 



28. Parus C/Eruleus, Linn. (Blue Tit.) 



This is also common, and resident in most parts of the district. 

 During autumn it resorts in large numbers to the extensive reed- 

 brakes on the lower parts of the Tay, where all day long it may 

 be seen in small companies actively ascending and descending the 

 reed stalks, peering and prying into every leaf-joint in search of 

 insect food, and often clinging to the pendent seed-tufts, the 

 grain of which they possibly extract, though I have never actu- 

 ally detected the fact. 



29. Parus ater, Linn. (Coal Tit.) 



Another resident species, common at all seasons, and which 

 possibly may, on more occasions than one, have been mistaken 

 for the Crested Tit {Far us cristatus, Linn.), which Mr Yarrell 

 quotes, on the authority of F. W. Bigge, Esq., of Hampton Court, 

 as frequenting the Pass of Killiecrankie. Be this as it may, it is 

 a spot which I am well acquainted with, and one most unlikely 

 to find it in. The locality most suited for it in the district is 

 the Black Wood of Rannoch, where I have made repeated search 

 for it, but have never found it there, nor in any other part of the 

 district. The nearest point to the Pass of Killiecrankie in which 

 I have observed it, was many miles across the boundary march 

 on the watershed of the Spey, in the old fir forest of Rothie- 

 murchus, near Aviemore. 



30. Mecistura caudata, Gould. (Long-tailed Tit.) 



Though breeding and resident throughout the year, it is not 

 so much observed in the summer months, when busily engaged 

 in nesting employments, as it is in the autumn, winter, and early 

 spring, when at that time they wander through the country in 

 small trips, and in families, flitting across from one spot to 

 another, where, meeting with some oak or other tree of their 

 choice, they cling and hang among its branches in every attitude, 



