PABUS MAJOR EXCELSUS 135 



The Great Tit of the Mediterranean subregion, which includes 

 the Atlas districts, diifers slightly, but apparently constantly, from 

 typical Pants major, Li., and it should therefore no doubt be recognised 

 as a distinct form, or subspecies, referable to Panes major excelsus, 

 Brehm, the type of which was obtained by Buvry in Algeria (J. f. 0. 

 1857, p. 194). The difference, as just stated, is slight, extremely sUght 

 in fact, but it appears to be perfectly constant in a large series of 

 specimens. It consists in the brighter coloration of the underparts 

 of the bird, which in the present southern form may be described as 

 bright greenish-yellow, while in the more northern, or typical form 

 it is a dull yellowish-green. Beyond this there appears to be no 

 difference between the two forms, unless it be that in North-west 

 African birds the bill is slightly larger on an average than it is in 

 typical P. major, although this slight difference does not seem to be 

 noticeable in most examples from other Mediterranean districts. 



Specimens of the Great Tit from Tunisia, Algeria, Marocco, 

 Spain, and Italy all agree in the bright colouring of their underparts, 

 and should therefore, no doubt, all be referred to P. m. excelsus. The 

 Great Tit found in Cyprus has been described by Madarasz as distinct 

 from P. major under the name of Parus aphrodite, but specimens in 

 my collection from that island appear to be identical in coloration 

 with West Mediterranean examples, although they are slightly smaller 

 in size. Specimens from Persia and Palestine appear to be rather 

 greyer on the back, and have been distinguished under the name of 

 P. m. hlandfordi, Praz. 



This Titmouse is a common and resident species in most of the 

 forests of North Tunisia, but does not occur, so far as I am aware, in 

 any of the central or southern districts of the Eegency. 



In Algeria, however. Dr. Koeuig met with the species not 

 only in the mountains and wooded regions around Batna, but also 

 in the Oasis of El-Kantara, which is situated on the south side of 

 the Atlas (J. f. 0., 1895, p. 122). It is true El-Kantara is only just 

 the other side of the Aures Mountains, and scarcely in the desert, 

 but it is none the less an oasis, with its palm-trees and accompanying 

 vegetation. In the Biskra oasis I never met with the species. From 

 Marocco I have a good series of specimens of this Tit, most of them 

 obtained in the neighbourhood of Fez and Marocco City, others 

 being from districts higher up in the Great Atlas, and some, including 

 young birds, from the vicinity of Eas-el-Aiu, on the coast south of 

 Mogador. 



