PARID.E. 



107 



V>^ 



THE MARSH-TITMOUSE. 



Parus palustris, Linnaeus. 



The Marsh-Titmouse is another of our resident species ; but with 

 the exception of the Crested Titmouse it is the least plentiful and 

 the most local of the genus. Its name is somewhat misleading, for 

 the bird may often be seen in orchards and gardens, and even in 

 pine-woods ; but it is partial to the vicinity of rivers, and to the 

 alders and pollarded willows which flourish on swampy ground. In 

 England, and in suitable parts of Wales, it is fairly common ; but in 

 Scotland it is local, and was not known to breed to the north of the 

 valley of the Forth, until in 1893, Mr. W. Evans found it nesting in 

 Strathspey. In Mull it was abundant in October 1878. In Ireland it is 

 rare ; it has been recorded from cos. Antrim, Kildare, and Dublin. 



British examples are somewhat browner on the upper parts and 

 flanks than Continental specimens, and, according to Dr. Stejneger, 

 they have also shorter tails. Nevertheless those ornithologists who 

 have admitted the British Coal-Tit to be a distinct species, have not 

 been equally courageous as regards the British Marsh-Tit, although 

 the differences between the dull insular and the bright Continental 

 forms are quite as marked. Dr. Stejneger has emphasized his 

 opinion of this omission by naming our bird P. palustris dresseri ; 

 and, as I agree with him that it is inconsistent to recognize specific 

 distinctness in the former case and to reject it in the latter, I have 



