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MISCELLANEA ORNITHOLOGICA. 



CRITICAL, NOMENCLATORIAL, AND OTHER NOTES, MOSTLY ON 

 PALAEARCTIC BIRDS AND THEIR ALLIES. 



BY ERNST HAETEET, Pii.D. 



Part XL* 

 The forms of PARUS MAJOR. 



ONE of the most diffii-ult gmups of birds fur the stadent of closely allied 

 geographical forms, and one of the most interesting ones to the field- 

 observer, is that of the subspecies of Parus major. If we stndy all the Titmice, 

 we find that not only the European Tomtits, but also minor, hohhareHsis, cinereiis 

 and their allies must be treated as subspecies of major. That the yellow underside 

 is not an essential character is exhibited by Parus major aphrodite, the Cyprus 

 subspecies, which sometimes has a cream-coloured underside ; and similar varieties 

 occur frequently in Greece and Spain, occasionally even in Germany. That the 

 greenish back is not more than a secondary character is shown by intermedius, 

 which is very closely allied to hokharensis, but has a green tinge on the inter- 

 scapulium, and by minor, which is on the back almost as green as major, while 

 being deprived of all yellow colour underneath. About the forms of Parus major 

 in Europe and North Africa I cannot say more than what I have said in Lief iii. of 

 my book lUe Vogel der paliiarktischen Fauna ; and I can only repeat that they are 

 still somewhat unsatisfactory. More especially we require a series from Spain. 

 I recapitulate here what I have distinguished in my book, and add the tropical 

 forms, which are, in my opinion, less difficult to separate. 



1. Parus major major L. 



Europe to the Altai in the east, and to the Mediterranean Sea in the south. 

 Terra ti/pica : Sweden. 



2. Parus major newtoni Praz. 



England, Scotland, and Ireland. 



At once distinguished by its stout and large bill. 



Terra typica : England. 



3. Parus major excelsus Bnvry. 



Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco. 



The smaller white mark on the inner web of the outer pair of rectrices is 

 generally conspicuous ; the yellow on the underside deeper. 

 Terra ti/jjiea : Nrakta el Abbia in N. Algiers. 



* For Pari I. aee Nov. Zool. I'.IOJ, pp. 456-60. 



