PARID/E 



THK BLUE TITMOUSE. 



Parus c.*:ruleus, Linnreus. 



The Blue Titmouse is one of the best known of our British birds, 

 and is generally distributed throughout the greater part of our 

 islands. In Scotland, however, it does not appear to reach the 

 Hebrides, and it is rare and very local in the north-west, although 

 resident in Sutherland and Caithness ; while in the Orkneys and 

 Shetlands it is only known as a mere straggler. In Ireland it is the 

 commonest of the genus. In autumn considerable numbers of Blue 

 and Great Tits arrive on our east coast ; and still larger flocks pass 

 by Heligoland. 



In Norway the Blue Titmouse breeds as far north as lat. 64°, but 

 further east its range does not extend beyond 61° N., nor is the bird 

 found to the east of the Urals. It is generally distributed over the 

 remainder of Europe, except in some of the Greek islands ; and it 

 is common in Asia Minor ; but in Persia it is replaced by /''. pcr- 

 siais, a much paler bird, with broader white margins to the greater 

 wing-coverts. Continental specimens of the Blue Titmouse are 

 brighter than those of our islands, and attain the maximum of 

 brilliancy in the south of Spain ; while on the other side of the 

 Mediterranean (which this species has never been known to 

 cross), in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, we find P. ultraviarinus, 

 and in the Canaries the insular form P. tcneriffce ; birds witli the 



