THE CRESTED TIT. 



M3 



T». O. U. List Br. B., p. 28 (1883) ; Gadow, Cat. B. Brit. 

 Mus., viii., p. 27 (1883); Seeb., Brit. B., i., p. 481 (1883); 

 Saunders, Man., p. 103 (1889) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. 

 B., pt. xvi. (1890); Wyatt, Brit. B., pi. 4, fig. 1 (1894). 

 Lophophanes cristatus, Dresser, B. Eur., iii., p. 151, pi. 115 

 (1871). 



Adult Male. — General colour above olive-brown, clearer and 

 more fulvescent on the rump and upper tail-coverts ; wing- 

 coverts and quills ashy-brown, washed with the same colour as 

 the back, the primaries edged with ashy; tail-feathers ashy, 

 edged with brown ; head crested ; sides of face, as well as the 

 sides of the neck, ashy-white ; the feathers of the crown black, 

 tipped with white, the crest-feathers long, black, with a white 

 edging; behind the ear-coverts a crescentic patch of black; 

 throat black, connected to the nape by a line of black, which 

 crosses the sides of the neck ; remainder of under surface of 

 body ashy-white, with the flanks and sides of the body ruddy 

 isabelline, as well as the under tail-coverts; thighs and under 

 tail-coverts white ; bill black ; feet leaden-grey ; iris hazel. 

 Total length, 4*3 inches; oilmen, 0*45; wing, 26; tail, 1*9; 

 tarsus, 0*75. 



Adult Female. — Similar to the male in colour, but has a little 

 less black on the throat, and a shorter crest. Total length, 

 4*4 inches ; wing, 2*5. 



Note. — Between the Scotch specimens in the British Museum and others 

 from the Continent we cannot find any difference in colour, and they all 

 clearly belong to one and the same species. 



Range in Great Britain. — Resident only in the forests which 

 clothe the valley of the Spey and the adjacent rivers. In 

 other parts of Scotland, and also in various localities in Eng- 

 land the Crested Tit has occurred in isolated instances. 

 Some of these appear to be authentic, but only two cases of 

 the occurrence of the bird in Ireland have been recorded. 



Range outside the British Islands — The present species is an 

 inhabitant of the pine-forests of Europe, its northern range 

 being about 64 N. lat., and extending to the Volga; it has 

 also been found in Turkey, but has not been noted from Asia 

 Minor, Greece, or Italy south of the Alps. 



Habits.-- Although principally known as an inhabitant of 



