PARID/E. 



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THE CRESTED TITMOUSE. 



Parus cristatus, Linnaeus. 



It seems probable that the Crested Titmouse has been for ages a 

 resident species in the old forests of Scotland, which now survive 

 principally in the valley of the Spey. Probably the bird does not 

 breed at the present time outside Strathspey. It has occurred in 

 Perthshire in winter, but, as a rule, it wanders little from its usual 

 haunts, and one recorded example in Argyll and another near 

 Dumbarton, appear to be the only instances in Southern Scotland. 

 In England few of the cases on record can be substantiated, but 

 there need be little doubt that from time to time a wanderer arrives 

 from the Continent. A bird in the Museum of Whitby, Yorkshire, 

 was obtained in that vicinity in March 1872, and one, examined 

 by Mr. E. Butterfield, was shot in August 1887 near Keighley, in 

 the same county ; one appears to have been killed in Suffolk about 

 1873, two or three have been taken in the Isle of Wight and 

 Hampshire, and Baron A. von Hiigel observed a bird at Bourne- 

 mouth on March 26th 1874. For details, a careful paper by Mr. 

 J. H. Gurney (Zool. 1890, p. 210) may be consulted. 



It is not remarkable that the Crested Titmouse should occasion- 

 ally visit England, for it is resident in Normandy ; while it breeds 



