4 Nicholson, PalcBurctic Species of Coal-Tits. 



Mr. Gould was a constant visitor to ' Formosa,' when 

 Mr. De Vitre lived there. The head-gardener, Briggs, 

 was a first-class naturalist, and was always on the look- 

 out for specimens for Mr. Gould, when he was writing his 

 " Birds of Great Britain." This is no doubt the way in 

 which the specimen oi P. ater from ' Formosa ' came into 

 Mr. Gould's possession, and was afterwards given by him 

 to the Indian Museum. 



It will be noticed further on that the Coal-Tit of 

 Japan has been separated recently by Mr. Hellmayr 

 under the name oi Partis insularis (vide infra, p. 8). 



In Mr. Dresser's " Manual of PaUtarctic Birds " 

 (vol. I, 1902, pp. 164 — 16"/), Parus ater is recognised, with 

 2 sub-species, P. britannicus and P. Cypriotes. P. inicha- 

 loivskii is united to P. phaeonotus, and P. rufipectus is 

 made a sub-species of the latter bird, whereas, in my 

 opinion, it belongs to the long-crested section of the Coal- 

 Tits, being closely allied to P. pekinensis, which Mr. 

 Dresser unites with P. ater. 



Dr. Bianchi published in 1902 a very useful " Hand- 

 list" of the Paridae in the Animaire of the Petersburg 

 Museum, and this was the foundation of Dr. Bowdler 

 Sharpe's synopsis of the family, in his" Handlist of Birds" 

 (vol. 4, 1903). 



In 1903 appeared part 18 of " Das Tierreich," in which 

 Dr. Hellmayr monographed the Paridae, with all that 

 care which he bestows on every one of his undertakings. 

 It is a very fine piece of work, and leaves little to criticise^ 

 although the system of nomenclature may not commend 

 itself to all of us. 



Mr. Hellmayr places the following species and sub- 

 species in his sub-genus Periparns. 



1. Parus rubidiventris Blyth. 



2. Parus rufomichalis Blyth, with two sub-species. 



