148 The Great Tit. 



the valley of tlie Obb, Finsch and Brelim did not observe it north of lat. 58°. 

 On the Pacific coast, Middeudorff did not obtain it further north than lat. 55°. 

 It extends in the west as far south as the Canary Islands, Algeria, Palestine, and 

 Persia, and in the east as far as North Turkestan and the Amoor." 



This beautiful bird has the crown of the head to below the eye and backwards 

 to the nape glossy black with a bluish sheen ; the mantle and upper back are 

 olivaceous-green, which shades into deep ash-grey on the lower back and upper 

 tail-coverts; tail with the inner webs greyish-black, the outer webs deep ash-grey, 

 excepting the outermost feather which has the web and tip white, the next feather 

 also white-tipped ; wing-coverts bluish pearl-grey, the outer ones broadly tipped 

 with white; the primaries smoky-brown, the basal half of the outer webs edged 

 with pearl-gre}^ and the terminal half with white; secondaries gre3dsh brown, darker 

 towards the shaft and paler towards the margins, the outer webs with broad pale 

 edges, the anterior feathers being edged Avith pearl-grey, and the posterior ones 

 with white; the cheeks, ear-coverts, and sometimes a small spot on the nape snow- 

 white ; a belt encircling the neck, the chin, throat, fore-chest, and an irregular 

 streak down the centime of the breast to the vent blue-black, remainder of body 

 below dull sulphur-yellow ; under tail-coverts white, varied with black, the tail- 

 feathers below ash-grey, the outer feathers varied as above with white ; bill 

 shining black ; feet dark leaden-grey ; iris deep brown. 



The female is slightly duller than the male, and the stripe below is a little 

 narrower. Young birds are also duller, with the cheeks more yellow in tint. 



In general colouring our Great Tit curiously resembles the smaller (N. W. 

 Indian) form of the Persian Bulbul (Pycnonotus leiicotisj. 



The "Ox-eye" Tit, as this bird is often called, is abundantly met with in woods, 

 plantations, shrubberies, orchards and gardens ; it may be seen at almost all times 

 of the year in search of food, and I do not doubt that many caterpillars of the 

 common Puss-moth which, from their bizarre aspect, deter most birds from touching 

 them, fall victims to this and the other species of Pants : I know that, in confine- 

 ment, the Great Tit does not hesitate for a moment to seize and tear them to pieces. 

 In the winter all these birds are easily attracted by a suspended beef-bone or lump 

 of suet, and the actions of the birds can then be well studied ; for in winter more 

 than at other times, the Tits are confiding and reckless of consequences : on this 

 account they are more easily caught in cage-traps than any other birds. 



The call-note of the Great Tit much resembles that of the Chaffinch — chick, 

 c/iic/i, cliicli, with a slight metallic // sound before the last ch ; its alarm-note is 

 like the bleating of a kid— a sort of 'd'cny, enc, tire, sometimes running together 

 into a long vibration (I have heard the note when a cat has been climbing the 



