Mr. Thompson on the Birds of Ireland. 191 



History of the County of Cork it is remarked, " Besides this 

 species (Parus major), there is also the cole titmouse, the black- 

 cap, the blue titmouse or nun, and the long-tailed titmouse" 

 (vol. ii. p. 340, 2nd edit.). If we take for granted that the 

 term "black-cap" is correctly applied to a Parus, the marsh 

 titmouse must be considered the one that is meant. This 

 species is not commonly distributed in Ireland. In a very few 

 instances only has it occurred to me around Belfast, and not 

 in any other locality. By two ornithological friends it has 

 been met with but once or twice, and though within a few 

 miles of the town, the localities and times of appearance were 

 always^different. By R. Ball, Esq., it has been seen only about 

 Ballitore in the county of Kildare. In the collection of T. W. 

 Warren, Esq., a native specimen is preserved, which was shot 

 in the Phoenix Park near that city. 



Cole Titmouse, Parus ater, Linn. — Montagu and Selby 

 state that this species is less numerous in England than the 

 P. palustris, but in Ireland the relative proportion of the two 

 species is very different. To one only of my correspondents 

 is the latter known with certainty, but all who have bestowed 

 much attention on the subject attest the presence of the cole 

 titmouse in their respective counties, viz. Donegal, Clare, 

 Kerry, Cork, Tipperary, and Dublin. In the north generally, 

 and wherever I have been in suitable localities throughout the 

 country, it has occurred pretty commonly. Seeds as well as 

 insects, &c. form a portion of its food. In a plantation con- 

 sisting chiefly of the common pine (Pinus sylvestris) and the 

 alder, I once in the middle of December for a considerable 

 time observed some of these birds, accompanied by the gold- 

 crested regulus and lesser redpole {Fringilla Linaria). They 

 were all occupied in flying from one alder to another, and were 

 intent on procuring the seed of this tree only. The various 

 attitudes of these three beautiful species were highly interest- 

 ing, as the light bunch of pendent seed admitted not of their 

 being stationary for a single moment. To observe a troop of 

 titmice comprising three or four species, in addition to the 

 gold-crested regulus, and occasionally one or two others of our 

 smallest birds, moving about in company, now pausing as if 

 to display their graceful attitudes on a few adjacent trees, then 

 filing rapidly through the thickest plantations with the esprit 



