THE CRESTED TITMOUSE. 113 



non-migratory species which rarely travels south- 

 ward, for the observations of several good ornitholo- 

 gists have established the fact that it is not uncommon 

 in the cork woods of Southern Spain, where it breeds. 



"The Crested Titmouse," says Colonel Irby, 1 

 "is resident and common in the cork wood of 

 Almoraima [near Gibraltar], in all the neighbouring 

 pine woods, and in the valleys and on the hillsides 

 at the back of Algeciraz up to near Tarifa, wherever 

 the cork tree grows. It nests about the loth of 

 May in the hollow stumps of boughs of the cork 

 and pine trees, the eggs being about five in number, 

 much spotted, and resembling strongly those of the 

 Creeper, Certhia familiaris" 



Being thus common to the North and South of 

 Europe, it is difficult to account for its extreme 

 rarity in our own intermediate country. Possibly 

 the explanation may lie in the fact that, although 

 pine woods exist in many parts of England, they 

 are, comparatively speaking, of modern growth, and 

 there is a notable absence of those older pine forests 

 which overspread many parts of Scotland, and in 

 which possibly the bird discovers some particular 



1 Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar, p. 101. 



I 



