TITMICE. 327 



Is one of the rarest of the northern tits, and confined to 

 the middle and south of the country. 



119. P. CYANUS, Pall. AzurMes. D. 



Length 5i in. ; tail long, rounded the middle feathers 



blue, and as long as the rest of the body ; head white, 



with a black-blue band through the eye, and another 



over the back of the neck ; back and shoulders pale 



blue ; tail and wings dark blue, under parts white ; tail 



tipped with white ; wings with two broad white bands. 



This beautiful little tit, whose proper home is Siberia, is 



very accidental in Sweden, and is not even included by 



Wright in the " Birds of Finland." Is recorded by Kjar- 



bolling to have been twice observed in Denmark, but not to 



have been shot. 



Its habits resemble those of the blue tit, but it fre- 

 quents the same localities as the marsh tit. Of its breed- 

 ing habits little appears to be known. The egg in my 

 collection from Siberia, which I received from a friend upon 

 whom I can place every reliance, resembles more the egg of 

 the blue tit than any other. It is rather larger, but the form 

 is more oval than that of the marsh tit ; the spots are fewer 

 and much lighter, but it is absurd to describe the egg of a 

 tit from a couple of specimens. Excellently figured in Breeds 

 " Birds of Europe " as the " azure tit." 



120. P. CAUDATUS, L. StjertMes. The Long-tailed Tit. D. F. 



Length 6 in. ; tail long, wedge-shaped, the middle 

 feather black, and longer than the rest of the body j 

 head, throat, and breast white ; back black ; shoulders 

 and under tail coverts reddish ; beak very short. 

 The colour of the long-tailed tits in the north appears to 

 differ altogether from that in the southern forms. In France 

 the male has black or red-brown spots, and a band on the head 

 and neck. Nilss. 



Is sparingly distributed over all Scandinavia, at least as 

 far up as the Dovre Fell. I never detected them breeding in 

 Wermland, where, however, they are common in the early 

 winter. 



