472 BRITISH BIRDS. 
PARUS ATER anv PARUS BRITANNICUS. 
EUROPEAN COAL TIT and BRITISH COAL TIT. 
(PLaTE 9.) 
Of the various subspecific forms of the Coal Tit, two at least are found 
in our islands, of which the synonymy is as follows :— 
PARUS ATER. 
EvropEAN Coat TIr. 
Parus atricapillus, Briss. Orn. iii. p. 551 (1760). 
Parus ater, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1. p. 341 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum—Latham, 
Gmelin, Bechstein, Naumann, Temminck, Gray, Bonaparte, Degland, Gerbe, 
Newton, Dresser, &c. 
Parus carbonarius, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso- Asiat, i. p. 556 (1826). 
Poecile ater (Linn.), Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 114 (1829). 
PARUS BRITANNICUS. 
British Coat Tir. 
Parus britannicus, Sharpe § Dresser, Ann. Nat, Hist. (series 4) viii. p. 437 (1871). 
Parus ater, Linn. apud Newton, &e. 
The Coal Tit is one of those species which has extended its range within 
our islands during comparatively recent times. larly writers state that 
this bird was far rarer than the Marsh-Tit ; now it is certainly the reverse, 
although no perceptible decrease in the numbers of that species has been 
noticed. The Coal Tit is found pretty generally throughout the British 
Islands in all suitable localities. It breeds throughout all the counties 
of England, Wales, and Scotland, as far north as Sutherlandshire. Its 
distribution in Scotland is somewhat local and greatly influenced by 
the presence of pine-woods, although there can be little doubt that it 
will extend its distribution as the planting of pines and firs increases. 
With the exception of Mull and Skye, the Coal Tit is absent from the 
Western Isles, nor does it ever appear to have occurred in the Orkneys or 
the Shetlands. In Ireland it is pretty generally distributed. 
The geographical distribution of the Coal Tit presents several points of 
interest ; for we find in this species a somewhat similar and parallel series 
of variations in colour to those of the Marsh-Tit and the Nuthatch. The 
British form, P. britannicus, appears to be peculiar to our isJands. The 
typical form, P. ater, appears continually to visit our islands on migration, 
eile 
