Mr. R. B. Sharpe on the Genus Acredula. 297 



to aid me in my studies ; but as in the present instance the sexes 

 of the specimens were not marked, I cannot rely on their cor- 

 rect determination. They are both young birds, in which stage 

 of plumage the two species approach each other ; but Scandi- 

 navian examples always have the white on the head and throat 

 much purer than in any British specimen I have yet seen. I 

 possess, however, through the kindness of Mr. J. G. Keulemans, 

 of Leyden, a pair of adult birds from Holland, concerning which 

 he has sent me the following note : — '' The two birds I have 

 sent you are male and female. The old male has a pure white 

 head, and is less rufous on the back. Very young ones resemble 

 the female, but are browner on the head. You will thus see that 

 I have sent you a pair of adult birds. It is seldom that Parus 

 caudatus is found breeding in Holland ; but it is very common 

 in the winter-time. It breeds in Northern Europe, and only 

 comes to us in winter ; and from October to March they are 

 seen flying in flocks of from five to twenty individuals. These 

 flocks consist of the old birds and the family of young ones. 

 They are very tame, and are easily captured, though very diffi- 

 cult to keep alive in confinement. If one is caught, it makes a 

 peculiar whistling noise, like dzir-r-r-r-ell, which no sooner is 

 heard by its companions than they all fly round the captive, 

 and come so close as almost to be taken with the hand. I know 

 that they make a very artistic nest, but I have never seen one." 



From the foregoing remarks it will be seen that the white- 

 headed Titmouse only comes to Holland in the winter. In 

 Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, however, it breeds, according 

 to the ornithologists of those countries, and in the two last- 

 mentioned as far north as lat. 63°^. Still in Norway it is pro- 

 bably a local species, for my friend Mr. F. W. Backhouse tried 

 unsuccessfully during a three months' trip last summer to pro- 

 cure me a specimen, and the bird was not known to the country- 

 people of whom he enquired. 



The white-headed Bottle-Titmouse would, however, seem to 



be common in Siberia. MiddendorfF obtained an example in 



January at Udskoj-Ostrog, between the Stanovoi Mountains 



and the Sea of Ochotsk, which agreed with European specimens, 



* Wallengren, Naumannia, 1855, p. 13G. 



