BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 73 



Coal titmouse. 



THE Coal Titmouse (Parus ater, Linnaeus ; Pants ater 

 Britannicus, Sharpe and Dresser) is a generally distributed, 

 though not very numerous, species throughout the British 

 Isles. It also is a resident in most parts of Europe, as 

 well as North -Western Asia. The adult has the head, 

 nape of the neck, and throat, glossy black ; cheeks, sides of 

 the neck, and a central spot in the nape, white ; back 

 and scapulars, greenish -brown, tinged with grey; rump, 

 yellowish -grey ; wings, greyish -brown, margined with paler 

 brown ; the greater and lesser coverts, tipped with dull 

 white, forming two bars across the wings; tail, greyish- 

 brown ; breast and abdomen, dull white ; flanks, buffish ; 

 irides, brown ; bill, blackish ; legs and feet, bluish -grey. 

 Length, about four inches. The female is similar to the 

 male. 



