CRESTED TIT. 335 



the second Supplementary volume to his General Synopsis, 

 says, " We have heard of this species being plentiful in some 

 parts of Scotland, especially in the pine forests, from whence 

 I have received a specimen, now in my possession." Colonel 

 Montagu, in his Ornithological Dictionary, says, " it is not 

 uncommon amongst the large tracts of pines in the north of 

 Scotland, particularly in the forest of Glenmoor, the property 

 of the Duke of Gordon, from whence we have seen it." In 

 a note to the history of this species in the British Ornitho- 

 logy of Mr. Selby, it is stated, " Sir William Jardine informs 

 me that this bird has been found in some plantations not far 

 distant from Glasgow, where it annually breeds." In a note 

 by Sir William Jardine himself, vol. i. p. 143, of his edition 

 of Wilson"'s Birds of the United States, he says, " I lately 

 received the nest of this species (the Crested Titmouse) 

 taken from some hollow tree. The inside lining was almost 

 entirely composed of the scales and cast off exuvia of Snakes." 

 Thomas Macpherson Grant, Esq. of Edinburgh, who has 

 favoured me with notes of his own observations on birds in 

 the eastern counties of Scotland, says, " I possess one pre- 

 served specimen of the Crested Tit, shot by myself, and seen 

 in considerable numbers ;" and F. W. Bigge, Esq. of 

 Hampton Court, whose name I have quoted in the article on 

 White's Thrush, at page 184, informs me that in the sum- 

 mer of 1837, he observed several examples of this species in 

 the pass of Killiekrankie. 



The Crested Tit inhabits Denmark, Sweden, and the more 

 temperate parts of Russia. M. Nilsson, the Swedish natu- 

 ralist, says it remains in that country all the year, inhabiting 

 the pine forests, building in holes in trees, and feeding on 

 insects in their different stages, and on the small seeds of 

 various evergreens. It inhabits the forests of Germany, and 

 the fir-covered mountains of Switzerland ; it is also found in 

 Lorraine and Provence. Bechstein says it inhabits all the 

 pine woods of Thuringia; and Mr. Hoy, who has had oppor- 



