Manchester Memoirs, Vol. I. (1906), No. 13. 3 



the two species (" Handb. Brit. Birds," vol. i, p. I'i^y), 

 where he remarks that, although in worn plumage during 

 the nesting season, P. britanniciis may lose some of its 

 olive tint through the wearing away of the edges of the 

 feathers, yet there is never any real difficulty in 

 distinguishing our native bird from the true P. ater, which 

 can only be considered an occasional visitor to the British 

 Islands. 



Mr. Prazak has given the full synonymy oi Parus ater, 

 and assigns to it the following geographical range : — 

 France, Portugal*, Spain, Italy, Sicily, Sardiniaf, Switzer- 

 land, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, 

 Sweden, Austria, Hungary, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Servia, 

 Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Asia Minor, 

 Palestine, Poland, Baltic Provinces, Russia generally, 

 throughout Siberia to Amur Land, Kamtchatka, Ussuri 

 Land, Askold Island, Japan, and the Liu Kiu Islands.^ 



He likewise includes the island of Formosa, and 

 hereby recalls a ludicrous episode in the history of 

 ornithology. In Horsfield and Moore's " Catalogue of 

 the Birds in the Museum of the East India Co." (vol. i, 

 P- 'h7Z)i 3- specimen of Panes ater from Formosa is 

 recorded as having been presented by Mr. John Gould. 

 This specimen has now passed into the collection of the 

 British Museum, and is undoubtedly only an example of 

 the ordinary Parus britannicus. It has been prepared by 

 Mr. Gould's own hands, and is evidently a bird procured 

 by him, or by Mr. William Briggs, at ' Formosa,' Sir 

 George Young's beautiful place on the Thames, near 

 Cookham. In middle age, so I am informed by Dr. 

 Bowdler Sharpe, who used frequently to meet him, 



* Now separated as Partis vieirce, mihi. 



t Now separated as Partis sardiis, Kleinschmidt. 



X Now separated as Pat-tis insularis, Hellmayr. 



