On a new Willow- Titmouse from Northern Italy. 443 



luiffy ; metentote dull wliitisli, ils edges incouspicnonslv 

 biiffj. Sides of head grizzled greyish, very slighlly sufruj^ed 

 with bnffy. Chin dull whitish, interrarnia white. Neck-band 

 broad, the ends of the hairs deep buffy, the underfur dark 

 slaty blackish. Front of fore limbs and upper side of feet 

 ochraceoiis, inner side of thighs buffy, not white as in apolli- 

 vctris. Tail almost obsolete, its situation marked by a small 

 til It of brownish hair amid the buffy of the rump. 



Skull about as birge as that of S. purgatnx^ larger and, 

 especially, broader than that of S. salentus. Interorbital 

 region flat, parallel-sided, not broadened anteriorly. Post- 

 orbital processes well developed, slender. Bullae small. 



Dimensions of the type (measured on skin) : — 



Head and body 420 mm. ; tail about 5 ; hind foot 7(i ; ear 45. 



Skull : greatest length 75 ; condylo-incisive length 68 ; 

 zygomatic breadth 36'5 ; nasals, oblique length 31"5, greatest 

 l)readth IG'3 ; interorbital breadth 16; intertemporal breadth 

 12 ; palatal foramina, length 18'7, breadth 7 ; breadth of 

 palate between anterior premolars 11*3 ; cheek-tooth series 

 (alveoli) 14-5. 



Hah. Medellin. Type from San Pedro, another speciuK'n 

 from Concordia [J. K. Salmon). 



Type. Adult male. B.M. no. 21. 7. 1. 26. Original num- 

 ber 12. Collected December 1919. deceived in exchange 

 from Fr^re Niceforo Maria. 



This Sylvilagus is nearly allied to 8. apoUinaris of Bogota, 

 but is duller-coloured, with less prominently white under 

 surface, especially posteriorly. From S. saleritus, Allen, of 

 which Mr. Anthony has kindly furnished me with some 

 additional details, it is distinguished by its broader nasals 

 and interorbital region, and its even shorter tail. 



XLVI. — On a new Willow-Titmouse from Northern Italy. 

 By Percy R. Lowe, M.B.O.U., F.Z.S. 



In July last, during a short visit to the Valtournanche Valley 

 in Northern Italy, I shot six willow-tits one morning on a 

 steep forest-grown slope at an elevation of 7000 feet, and 

 was struck by their peculiar and very dark appearance. Two 

 of the birds were fully adult and much worn, while the 

 remaining four were birds of tiie year in fresh plumage ; 

 but both young and adults exhibited the same striking dark 

 coloration. 



On comparing them with om* series of the Poecile atri- 

 capillus group in the British Museum, 1 could find nothing 



