193 



e. Cyprian Great Tit, P. major aphrodite Mad. 



P. major aphrodite Mad. Hartert, Yog. Pal. Fauna, p. 344 (part.) 



Breeding Range: Cyprus. 



Not uncommon where trees are to be found. Guillemard obtained 

 one near Kikko Monastery, at 4000 ft., and Glaszner found it breeding 

 early in May. Two nests, each with 7 eggs, found by him were placed 

 in a nest of Hirundo rufula on a clifif, and in a hole of a wall. Eggs 

 all brightly marked, but most of them show purplish grey underlying 

 markings in addition to the usual reddish brown spots. Average of 

 13 eggs (Hartert in litt), 18.07x13.6 mm.. Max. 18.5x14, Min. 

 17.7x13. 



[Some form of Great Tit is also resident in Asia Minor and Crete; 

 while in the wooded districts of N. W. Africa the representative form is 

 P. major excelsus Buvry, and P. m. hlanfordi Praz. is found in Palestine 

 and Persia.] 



90. Blue Tit, Parus caeruleus L. 



Geographical Races. 



a. British Blue Tit, P. caeraleas obscuras Praz. 



Eggs: Hewitson, I Ed. I, pi. LXXVI, fig. 1; II Ed. I, pi. XXXI, 

 fig. 2; III Ed. I, pi. XXXIX, fig. 2. Seebohm, Br. Birds, pi. 9; id. 

 Col. Fig. pi. 53. Frohawk, Br. Birds, I, pi. Ill, fig. 78—81. Dresser, 

 pi. — , fig. 45—48 and pi. — , fig. 41. 



Nest: 0. Lee, III, p. 70. 



Local Names: Tom Tit, Blue Cap, Billy Biter, Pickcheese, Maup. 

 Welsh: Pela glas bach, Yswidiv Mawr. 



Parus caeruleus L. Newton, ed Yarrell, I, p. 483. Dresser, Birds of 

 Europe, III, p. 131 and Man. Pal. Birds, p. 177 (part.) Saunders, Man. 

 p. 109. P. caeruleus obscurus Praz. Hartert, Vog. Pal. Fauna, p. 348. 



Breeding Range: British Isles. 



In most parts of England this bird is very generally distributed, British 

 and is the commonest Tit in many districts, although outnumbered in ^''®'- 

 others by the Great Tit. A few pairs are resident in the Isle of Man, 

 while in Scotland, though it is said to have bred in every county, it 

 becomes scarce in the extreme north, but has bred in E. Sutherland and 

 Caithness. It is also a resident in small numbers in Skye, but not on 

 the outer Hebrides, although it is known to inhabit the larger wooded 

 islands of the Inner Hebrides, such as Jura, Mull, etc. To the outlying 

 islands it is only a scarce straggler. In Ireland Ussher describes it as 

 the commonest and most widely spread of the Tits, breeding in every 

 county. 



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