PARUS. 8) 
but is not a seed-eater, nor does it seem to enjoy a stray meat- 
bone from the kitchen as cinereus does. Its note is a very 
loud four syllabic whistle, which may be written ti-ti-tee-ct, the 
third syllable much prolonged. In Shillong, where it is very 
common, this call is the first bird-note to be heard in the early 
dawn when it is most persistent and shrill though quite musical. 
(60) Parus cyanus tianschanicus. 
THE TranscHan Buive-T11, 
Cyanistes cyanus var. tanschanicus Menzbier, Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 
ix, p. 276 (1884) (Mountains of Central Asia). 
Vernacular names. None recorded. 
Description. A thin line of deep blue running through the 
eye and over the ear-coverts in a narrow collar round the nape ; 
remainder of head pale vinous blue or blue-grey; back pale 
blue-grey ; upper tail-coverts bright dark blue, tipped with white ; 
outermost tail-feathers white, with the basal third of the inner 
web black; on each succeeding pair the white decreases and 
the black increases and becomes more blue, especially on the 
outer web, until the central rectrices are all dark blue, except for 
broad white tips. Visible portion of closed wing deep blue, the 
quills edged with white on their terminal halves and the inner 
secondaries with bold white tips also; greater coverts with similat 
tips making a broad bar of white across the wing. 
Below pale vinous blue-grey with a broad patch of black on the 
abdomen forming an interrupted black median line on these parts. 
Colours of soft parts. Bill slaty horn; irides brown; legs and 
feet plumbeous. 
Measurements. Wing about 75 mm., tail about 65 mm. ; culmen 
about 7 mm.; tarsus about 15 mm, 
Distribution. ‘TManschan, Turkestan, Afghanistan, Chitral. 
Nidification. It is said to breed in May, laying 10 or 11 typical 
Blue-Tits’ eggs, white spotted with red, in a nest of hair and 
grass in a hole. In size they seem to vary between 18°5x 12:5 
(Dybowskz) and 14°8 x 11°5 mm. (Ley). 
Habits. Those of the genus. They are found at considerable 
elevations, certainly up to 12,000 feet, descending lower in winter, 
especially in the most northern parts of their habitat where they 
may be found at the level of the Plains. Fulton obtained five 
young birds in Chitral, at 10,000 feet in July 1902; he reports 
that this Tit was common there in the river-bed, where they were 
frequenting dense scrub of willow, juniper and birch. 
VOL. I, G 
