COLE TIT. 371 



Sicily. M. Temminck includes it in his Catalogue of the 

 Birds of Japan. 



The adult male has the heak hlack ; the irides hazel ; 

 the cheeks, side of the neck, and a descending stripe on 

 the nape of the neck, white ; the head, ear-coverts, and 

 the lower part of the side of the neck before the wing, 

 black ; back and wing- coverts bluish grey ; the smaller 

 and larger coverts ending with a spot of white on each 

 feather, forming two conspicuous white bars across the 

 wings ; the quill-feathers brownish grey, edged with green ; 

 the tertials tipped with dull white ; upper tail-coverts 

 greenish fawn colour ; tail-feathers, like those of the 

 wings, brownish grey ; the tail slightly forked. The chin 

 and throat black ; breast dull white ; belly, flanks, and 

 under tail-coverts, fawn-colour, tinged with green ; under 

 surface of wing and tail-feathers grey ; legs, toes, and 

 claws, black. 



This bird is at once distinguished from the Marsh Tit, 

 next to be described, by the white patch on the nape of 

 the neck, and by the white spots on the wing-coverts, 

 which are always present, neither of which are to be found 

 in the Marsh Tit at any age. 



The whole length of the Cole Tit is four inches and a 

 quarter. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing 

 two inches and three-eighths : the first feather very short ; 

 the second shorter than the third, and equal to the se- 

 venth ; the third, fourth, and fifth, nearly equal to each 

 other in length, and the longest in the wing. 



Females and young birds, have the grey colour of the 

 back tinged with greenish brown; in young birds, also, the 

 white colour is not so pure, and the black colour about the 

 head is less decided. 



B B 2 



