144 Commander II. Lynes on a 



much overliving cliff-face^ in wliicli the birds had selected a 

 slia;ht indentation and over it worked a roughly hemi- 

 spherical crust of hard mud with an entrance hole in its 

 centre. This, the ncst-container, in outward appearance 

 resembled the up|ier part of a ''Cantaro" (Spanish porous 

 water-pot) that had been broken off and placed against the 

 face of the rock with the narrow mouth to the front. 



The nest proper, inside the crust, was a snug and ample 

 affair of grey hare's fur with a neat countersunk cnp for the 

 eggs, like that of a Great Tit. The whole was a most 

 elaborate structure, and must have taken a long time to 

 complete. 



The eggs differed much from those of S. europiea in being 

 larger, more glossy, rounder, and with large bold blotches 

 and practically no spots or freckle-marks. 



Three days later a pair was watched building a nest in a 

 similar overhung place, but the birds seemed idle and not to 

 do much. It was only the beginning of a nest, and in the 

 lower part there was already some soft material, although 

 the crust was not a quarter completed. 



The stomachs of the birds collected were noted as con- 

 taining spiders, beetles, grasshoppers, ants, and small black 

 Hies. 



Parus major. 



The Great Tit was met with as a resident in Crete, Corfu, 

 Sicily, Sardinia, Thaso, and Gibraltar. Neither at Athens 

 nor Platea was the Great Tit seen. Tlie Sombre Tit 

 (^F. lugubris) was noted there as the representative "Tom- 

 Tit," whereas at Crete the Sombre Tit was not observed. 



There are no Tits in Malta. 



[The specimens from Crete are, I think, referable to tlie 

 form Parus major aphrodite INIad., but they are perhaps 

 sliglitly smaller. I agree M'itli Dr. Ilartert in considering 

 the Cypriote and Grecian Great Tits to be the same. 



A single specimen from Corfu seems to be of the typical 

 form (P. m. major) ; a single specimen from Sardinia is, 

 I think, of the Corsican form (P. m. corsiis), as it has a 



