452 PARUS CRISTATUS. 



tracts of pines in the north of Scotland, particularly in the forest 

 of Glenmore, the property of the Duke of Gordon, from whence 

 we have seen it. The eggs are said to be white, with small 

 spots of red ; the nest we do not find to be described by any 

 one." Thomas Macpherson Grant, Esq., who shot the speci- 

 mens above described, informs me that he obtained them in one 

 of the native pine forests of the uj)per part of the Spey, where 

 they were roaming in considerable numbers, and in their habits 

 not distinguishable from the Coal Tit. Mr Weir writes to me 

 that Alexander Campbell, Esq., y''. of Barcaldine, informed 

 him that in January 1838, he killed, about two miles from 

 Barcaldine House, Argyllshire, a very beautiful individual of 

 this species. If any of my readers should be curious to know 

 how an author may contrive to talk a great deal about nothing, 

 he may consult the article Crested Tit in an amusing work 

 entitled " The Feathered Tribes of the British Islands." 



Remarks. — The Crested Tit is stated by authors to occur in 

 many parts of the continent, especially those abounding in pines 

 and juniper. M. Temminck informs us that it feeds on insects, 

 spiders, small caterpillars, berries, and seeds of evergreen trees ; 

 nestles in cavities of trees, holes in walls and buildings, and in 

 the deserted nests of squirrels and magpies, and lays as many 

 as ten eggs, which are white, marked on the large end with 

 blood-red spots. He further states that it is rare in the central, 

 and more so in the southern parts of Europe, is nowhere plen- 

 tiful, and is only met with, like the Bohemian Chatterer and 

 some other birds, during very severe winters, when it visits the 

 pine woods. 



