LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE. 505 



distinctive features, and shewed some of them plainly by 

 means of figures. In the same year Leach (Syst. Cat. 

 Mamm. and Birds, p. 17) also separated this bird from Parus 

 and called it Mccistnra vagans. As it is now perhaps im- 

 possible to determine which of these authors anticipated the 

 other, the two nam.es A credula and Mecistura must be regarded 

 as of the same date, and if so there can be no doubt as 

 to the propriety of preferring that given by Koch, since 

 it was accompanied by a precise definition of the generic 

 characters, while Leach contented himself with a change 

 of name only*. That the separation of the Long-tailed Tit- 

 mouse from the genus Parus is justifiable few authorities 

 nowadays doubt, and its convenience is shewn by the 

 number of species or allied forms which have been of late 

 described. 



The Long-tailed Titmouse is a well-known if not a very 

 common species, to be generally seen in woods, plantations, 

 orchards and tall hedges. It remains in this country during 

 the whole 3^ear, usually keeping in smaller or larger com- 

 panies, often associating with the Golden-crested Wren and 

 the Coal-Titmouse, and is active and lively in its motions, 

 being almost incessantly in progress, each bird of the band 

 successively threading its way from branch to branch in 

 single file, or streaming over the spectator's head from tree 

 to tree or hedge to hedge in continuous procession while 

 in search of food, which seems in this species to be con- 

 fined entirely to insects, their larvae and eggs. Its nest is a 

 marvel of construction, combining beauty with safety and 

 warmth. In shape it is nearly oval, with a small bole in the 

 upper part of the side, by which the bird, hence known in 

 many districts as the Bottle-Titmouse, entersf. The outside 



* Already in 1752 Mcehring (Avium Genera, p. 45) had made this species the 

 type of a genus distinct from Parus, calling it Orites and defining its characters ; 

 but those who try to follow the rules of zoological nomenclature adopted by the 

 British Association (the only code ever set forth by any public authority) are 

 precluded from accepting the genera of that writer, and most fortunately, con- 

 sidering the additional amount of confusion they would cause. 



f Selby says there are two holes, but this is certainly not so except in extremely 

 VOL. I. 3 T 



