THE BRITISH MARSH-TIT. 

 By liEOIVHARD STEJIVEOEB. 



Parus palustris dresseri, snbsp. nov. 



DiAGN. — Similar to typical Parus palustris, but much darker ; the 

 brown of the back more olive, and the rump clearer and lighter huffish 

 brown; flanks much browner; tail shorter, the longest rectrices aver- 

 aging 49""^ ; outer pair of rectrices shorter than the rest which are nearly 

 of equal length. 



Habitat. — Great Britain. 



Type.— U. S. National Museum, No. 96550. 



It is curious that none of the British Ornithologists have had the 

 courage to describe this bird under a distinctive name, not even those 

 who recognize Parus britannicus as a distinct species, since there is no 

 lack of evidence in the literature that they have been aware of the 

 difference of the British Marsh-Tit from the Skaiidinaviaii and Central 

 European bird, for which Liun^us's name, P. palustris, is properly re- 

 tained, and most of the modern authors, when speaking of P. palustris 

 generally, or when describing it, have been obliged to qualify their 

 reference to its occurrence in Great Britain by remarking, that exam- 

 ples from this island are very much darker than P. palustris vera. 



Thus, for instance, Messrs. Dresser and Sharpe (B. of Eur., Ill, p. 100 

 seqv.) make several remarks to the same effect: '■'■Male from England. 

 Very much darker than continental specimens, the back especially ; the 

 rump much paler than the rest of the back, and inclining to rosy white ; 

 cheeks and center of the body underneath dingy white; the flanks dark 

 buff, this color also extending on to the abdomen " (p. 100), " But in a 

 comparison of specimens care must be taken to have the true Scandinavian 

 species, and not the somber English subspecies" (p. 105). "Compared with 

 the true P. palustris of Sweden, our English Marsh-Titmouse is a very much 

 darker bird, and has the head slightlj' browner and less glossy. As, how- 

 ever, there are many continental specimens which, m their winter dress, ap- 

 proach British examples, we feel that it would not be advisable to bestow 

 a specific name on our insular form, as the distinctions are not so clearly 

 characterized as in the Coal Titmice. That our island bird, however, 

 is constantly darker is apparent on comparison of a series of specimens 

 from Great Britain and the Continent. Mr. R. G. Wardlaw Ramsay 

 has kindly lent us some Scotch specimens which exactly agree with 

 English birds" (p. 109) {italics mine). Professor Newton's remark (Yar- 

 rell, Brit. Birds, 4 ed., I, p. 497) is much to the same effect, and so are 

 those of Mr. Seebohm (Brit. B. Eggs, I, pp. 476-477). The latter gen- 

 tleman thinks that the amount of brown is not sufficientlj' great to 

 warrant the separation of the British bird from the Continental one, 

 notwithstanding the fact that he himself has described as "variety" P. 

 200 



