ACREDULAPARUS 161 



vent and under tail-coverts washed with rose-colour ; bill and legs black ; 

 iris light brownish red with an outer bluish white ring, eyelids orange. 

 Culmen 0*3, wing 1*35, tail 2 -8, tarsus 071 inch. Sexes alike. 



Hob. Turkey, the Caucasus and Asia Minor, and as far east 

 as Persia and Turkestan. 



In its habits it assimilates closely with the common Euro- 

 pean species. It breeds in March and April, and places its 

 nest in preference in a yew-tree. Its nest and eggs are 

 undistinguishable from those of Acredula caudata. 



231. MONGOLIAN LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE. 

 ACREDULA CALVA. 



Acredula calva, Pleske, Prjevalsky's Reisen, ii. Vogel, p. 150, Taf. vii. 

 figs. 1, 2, (1894). 



ad. (Kan-su). Resembles A . tephronota, but has a broad frontal band, 

 the cheeks to above the eye and the ear-coverts pure white ; the crown and 

 nape deep black with a small central patch white, sometimes black with 

 but a faint trace of the central white patch. Culmen 0'3, wing 2 '5, tail 

 3'43, tarsus 0'65 inch. It approaches nearest to A. glaucogularis, of which 

 it is a northern form, differing in having the frontal band much broader, 

 pure white instead of ochreous, as are also the cheeks and patch on the 

 crown, the under parts whiter and the tail much longer. Sexes alike. The 

 young bird resembles that of A. glaucogularis (and has been described as 

 distinct under the name A. vinacea (Verr.) but has a longer tail. 



Hal. Kan-su and the valley of the Chuan-che in Mongolia. 



It inhabits the lower portion of the forest zone, and does not 

 range in the mountains higher than about 9,000 feet. It 

 prefers the deciduous woods in the river valleys, and is also 

 found in the willow and tamarisk thickets on the river banks. 

 Its nest and eggs are as yet unknown, but Prjevalsky saw 

 fledged young on the Tschurmyn river on the 29th April. 



PARUS, Linn., 1766. 



232. GREAT TITMOUSE. 



FARUS MAJOR. 



Parus major, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 341 (1766) ; Naum. iv. p. 9. Taf. 94, 

 fig. 1 ; Hewitson, i. p. 149, pi. xxxix, fig. 1 ; Gould, B. of Gt. Brit, 

 ii. pi. 23 ; Newton, i. p. 479 ; Dresser, iii. p. 79, pi. 106 ; Gadow, 

 Cat. B. Br. Mus. viii. p. 19 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 426 ; Saunders, 

 p. 103 ; Lilford, ii. p. 97, pi. 44. 



M 



