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Pis^nfcwfiow.— Northern, western, 

 and central China, and Mongolia. A 

 common resident in the Yangtse Valley. 



Nest and Eggs. —This Tit prefers the 

 coniferous trees, usually a cedar, for its 

 nesting site, though occasionally nests 

 are built in willows, or other trees. 

 The nest is an oval dome, with the 

 entrance near the top. It is built of 

 moss, lichens, with scraps of grass and 

 twigs inter- woven, the whole bound 

 together with cobwebs, and has a very 

 thick downy lining of soft feathers. 



There are from six to eight pinkish 

 white eggs, minutely speckled and 

 streaked with shades of red. 



Closely allied to this species is the 

 Bed-headed Tit (Aegithaliscus con- 

 cinnus), which has the top of the 

 head, sides of the breast, and abdomen 

 rufous. It occurs as a resident in the 

 hills, but is not common. 



The only remaining Tit recorded 

 from the Yangtse Valley is the 

 Broum-headed Tit (Eemiza con- 

 sobrina), which has the forehead, 

 and a line through the eyes deep 

 brown, and the whole of the upper 

 parts more or less washed brown. _ 



It occurs as a rather rare winter 

 visitant. 



Family, Paradoxornlthldae, the Crowtlts. 



The crowtits have short, thick, bills, 

 with nostrils completely hidden by 

 bristles. They are small birds, with 

 the loose fluffy plumage of the Tits ; 

 rounded wings, with ten primaries ; and 

 a long graduated tail. 



The sexes are alike in plumage, and 

 the young are identical in coloring with 

 the adults. 



