W. ROTHSCHILD : THE BRITISH WILLOW TIT. 45 



The principal differences between the Willow Tits and 

 the Marsh Tits are, firstly, that the feathers of the crown 

 and forehead are in the former longer and more loosely 

 constructed, while in the latter they are shorter and more 

 compact. The edges of these feathers in the Marsh Tit 

 are glossj-black, thus causing the whole crown to be 

 glossy and much blacker than that of the Willow Tit, 

 which is of a dull brownish-black or sooty-black ; secondly, 

 in the Marsh Tits the tail is almost square, while the 

 Willow Tits have it distinctly graduated. Lastly also the 

 notes of the birds are said to be different. 



A.. B. 



Tails of (a) British Willow Tit ; (b) British Marsh Tit. 



The first discovery of the Willow Tit as a British bird 

 was made by Pastor Kleinschmidt and Dr. Hartert in 1897, 

 when they found, mixed up with the skins of Parus 

 palustris dresseri in the British Museum, two skins from 

 Hampstead which were undoubtedly Willow Tits. 



The Tring Museum received two specimens in the same 

 year, killed in Coalfall Wood, near Pinchley, the well- 

 known suburb of London. One of these specimens is the 

 type of Hellmayr's Parus atricapillus Meinschmidti, which 

 is distinguishable from P. a. borealis — the Continental 

 form — by its much darker coloration and considerably 

 smaller size. 



Since then a fair number of Willow Tits liave been 

 obtained in Great Britain, though the bird is evidently a 

 rare form in our islands. 



The eggs appear to differ from those of the Marsh Tit 

 by the larger and paler brick-red spots at the larger end. 



