COLE TIT. 339 



winter even beyond the Lena. It is not less generally spread 

 over the European continent ; and according to the Prince of 

 Musignano, it is a constant resident as far south as Italy. 

 M, Temminck includes it in his Catalogue of the Birds of 

 Japan. 



The adult male has the beak black ; the irides hazel ; the 

 cheeks, side of the neck, and a descending stripe on the 

 nape of the neck, white ; the head, ear-coverts, and the lower 

 part of the side of the neck before the wing, black ; back 

 and wing-coverts bluish grey ; the smaller and larger coverts 

 ending with a spot of white on each feather, forming two con- 

 spicuous white bars across the wings ; the quill-feathers 

 brownish grey, edged with green ; the tertials tipped with 

 dull white ; upper tail-coverts greenish fawn colour ; tail- 

 feathers, like those of the wings, brownish grey ; the tail 

 slightly forked. The chin and throat black ; breast dull 

 white ; belly, flanks, and under tail-coverts, fawn-colour, 

 tinged with green ; under surface of wing and tail-feathers 

 grey ; legs, toes, and claws, black. 



This bird is at once distinguished from the Marsh Tit, 

 next to be described, by the white patch on the nape of the 

 neck, and by the white spots on the wing-coverts, which are 

 always present, neither of which are to be found in the 

 Marsh Tit at any age. 



The whole length of the Cole Tit is four inches and a 

 quarter. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing two 

 inches and three-eighths : the first feather very short ; the se- 

 cond shorter than the third, and equal to the seventh ; the 

 third, fourth, and fifth, nearly equal to each other in length, 

 and the longest in the wing. 



Females do not differ much from males :, but in them, and 

 in young birds, the grey colour of the back is tinged with 

 greenish brown ; in young birds, also, the white colour is not 

 so pure, and the black colour about the head is less decided, 



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