Manchester Monoirs, Vol. Iviii. (1914), No. 3. 3 



than the bhie-black headed type. In the same year the 

 Tring Museum received two of the same form which had 

 been taken at Finchley. Kleinschmidt announced the 

 new British subspecies of the Alpine Pants inontaniis in 

 a little-known German work,' but he gave the bird no 

 special name. Two years later Hellmayr named it Parus 

 montanus kleinscJtmidti after its discoverer.'' Hartert, how- 

 ever, considering that the distinction between the Willow 

 Tits of the Old and New World is not of specific value, 

 gives the bird the earlier name, and calls it Pains 

 atricapillus kleinschnidti Hellmayr.'^ 



It was not until the year 1907 that the " new" species 

 came prominently before the notice of many British 

 ornithologists, some of whom were well acquainted with 

 and admitted the specific value of the birds of this group 

 which occur on the Continent. In that year P. L. Sclater 

 asked for further details about this " supposed new British 

 Tit,"* and the Hon. Walter Rothschild promptly replied,'^ 

 supplying full particulars of the knowledge of the British 

 Willow Tit up to date. This roused many observers to 

 critically examine all the Marsh Tits which they saw 

 or which were in collections, with the result that in a few 

 years it was found that the Willow Tit occurred in practi- 

 cally all parts of England and Wales, though mostly in 

 smaller numbers than the Marsh Tit, and that it was a 

 resident, breeding in many places. A still more surprising 

 result was the discovery that nearly all, if not all, of the 

 so-called Marsh Tits in Scotland were really Willow 

 Tits." 



The fact that Mr. C. Oldham and I had recently 



' Orn. Aloiiats/er., vi., 34. 

 - OrnitholO':;ische fahrbticji xi., 212. 

 " "Die Vijgel der paliiarktisclien Fauna," 378. 

 '■ "British Birds," i., 23. '■• Ibid. i. 44. 



^ Hartert, etc., "A Iland-libt of lirilish Birds," 1912, 46. 



