I'ARID.E. 



95 



THE (IRE AT TITMOUSE. 



Parcs major, Linn?eus. 



This species, often called the Ox-eye, is resident and generally 

 distributed in suitable localities throughout England and ^VaIes, 

 Ireland, and the greater part of Scotland ; but in the northern and 

 western portions of the latter it becomes rare ; being only a casual 

 visitant to the Isle of Skye, and a straggler to the Shetlands. 



In the comparatively mild climate of Norway the Great Tit- 

 mouse is found as far north as the Arctic circle ; but in Russia it 

 has not been recorded beyond 64° N. lat., while in the valley of 

 the Yenesei Mr. Seebohm did not find it beyond 58° N. Eastward 

 it is met with in the wooded districts of Siberia as far as the Pacific 

 coast and the Amoor. In Mongolia, China and Japan, its repre- 

 sentative is P. minor : a slightly smaller bird, with the under parts 

 bufifish-white instead of yellow. Our bird is common over the whole 

 of Europe ; being migratory in the more northern countries, but 

 resident in the temperate and southern ones, down to the Medi- 

 terranean. In most of the islands of that sea it is also found, 

 although but rarely in Malta ; it occurs in the Canaries ; is resident 

 throughout a great part of North Africa ; and abounds in Asia 

 Minor, Palestine and Persia. 



The nest is often commenced in March ; a hole in a tree or wall 



