PAXURUS. 491 



Genus PANURUS. 



The Bearded Tit was separated from the genus Parus, in which both 

 Linnaeus and Brisson included it, by Koch and Leach in 1816. As the 

 latter naturalist did not assign any characters to his new genus Calamo- 

 philus, it is only right that Koch's genus Panurus should have the 

 preference, which he established and clearly defined for this bird's reception 

 in his 'System der baierischen Zoologie/ p. 201. As this species was the 

 only one known to Koch, it must be regarded as the type. 



The Bearded 1 Tit is a very aberrant member of the subfamily Parinae, 

 but no more so than the Creeper or the Nuthatch. Some writers have 

 placed it near the Buntings, some of which it much resembles in its habits 

 and the markings of its eggs. The cranial and palatal characters are said 

 by competent authorities to show its relationship to the Tits; and its 

 probable place in this subfamily is between the Long-tailed Tits and the 

 Penduline Tits, as it has the long graduated tail of the former and the 

 minute bastard primary of the latter. A distinctive character appears to 

 be the elongation of the feathers of the sides of the throat into a moustache. 

 The bill, though orange-yellow in colour, does not differ much in shape 

 from that of typical Parux, with which the bird also agrees in the structure 

 of its feet and in the position of the nostrils. 



The Bearded Tit haunts marshy places, fens, and reed-tracts. But one 

 species of this genus is known, whose geographical distribution, habits, 

 food, nest, &c. will be treated of in the following article. 



