BLUE TITMOUSE. 487 



were shot, and the tenancy it is hoped will not he again 

 disturbed.* 



The general distribution of the Blue Titmouse in this 

 country is shewn by the fact that it breeds in every county 

 of Great Britain from Cornwall to Caithness. It is said to 

 be the only species of Titmouse which has been noticed in 

 Orkney, and there only once, but Dr. Saxby includes it 

 among the birds of Shetland. It is very common, more so 

 than any other of the genus, in Ireland. Its range in Nor- 

 way seems to be at present undecided, but Herr Collett, in 

 1871, found it breeding in lat. 64°, though it is scarce beyond 

 Trondhjem. In Sweden Prof. Sundevall says he has no 

 certain assurance of its occurrence further north than lat. 

 Cl°. In Finland it seems to be most commonly seen in 

 spring and autumn but its nest is only known to have been 

 once found. Herr Meves says that it is supposed to have 

 occurred near Archangel, but it does not appear to have been 

 recorded from any other locality in Northern Russia, and it 

 even migrates in winter from the western and southern parts, 

 while it is not found beyond the Ural. It was observed by 

 Menetries at Lenkoran, and by Messrs. Dickson and Ross at 

 Erzeroom and Tortoone. De Filippi supposes that he noticed 

 it breeding at Kasvin, but the Blue Titmouse of southern 

 Persia has, from its duller colouring, been lately described 

 by Mr. Blanford as a distinct species under the name of 

 Parus persicus. Strickland procured it in Asia Minor. It 

 does not seem to occur in Palestine nor in any of the islands 

 of the Egean, though it is more or less common in Turkey, 

 continental Greece and Crete. Thence it is found throughout 

 the remainder of Europe, and the more western islands of 

 the Mediterranean, being replaced however in North Africa 

 and the Canaries by the brighter-coloured P. tenerlffce. 



* The kindness of Mr. James Clephan enables the Editor to say that the 

 earliest published record of this nest was in the 'Newcastle Coiuant' of May 1st, 

 1819, the date there assigned for the first tenancy of the bottle being 1785 ; but 

 Mr. Heavisides, who had resided in Stockton from 1814, gives it as 1779 (Ann. 

 Stockton, \>. 189). Thanks to Canon Tristram, the later particulars were gathered 

 on the spot by the Editor. This case may be compared with that of the Falcons 

 before mentioned (page 58, note). 



