PASSERINE. 293 
themselves therefrom in all sorts of positions, rending apart the 
seeds on which they feed, devouring insects wherever they see them, 
and not sparing even small birds when they happen to find them sick, 
and are able to put anend to them. They lay up stores of seeds, 
build in the holes of old trees, and lay more eggs than any of the 
Passerine. There are six species of Parus, properly so called, in 
France. 
P. major, L.; La Charbonniere; Enl. 3,13; Naum. 94, 1. (The 
Great Titmouse.) An olive colour above; yellow beneath; the 
head, as well as a longitudinal band on the breast, black; a 
white triangle on each cheek. Very common in gardens, &c. 
P. ater, L.3; La petite charbonniere; Frisch, I, pl. xiii, 23 
Naum. 94, 2. Smaller than the preceding; an ash colour in 
place of the olive, and whitish instead of the yellow. Prefers 
the great pine forests. 
P. palustris, L.; La Nonnette; Enl. 3, 3; Naum. 94, 4. (The 
Marsh Titmouse.) Ash coloured’ above; whitish beneath; a 
black calotte. 
P. ceruleus, L.; La M. a téte bleue; Enl. 3, 2; Naum. 95, 1, 
2. (The Blue-Headed Titmouse.) Olive above; yellowish be- 
neath; top of the head a fine blue; the cheek white, surrounded 
with black; forehead white. A pretty little bird, very common 
in the underwood. 
P. cristatus, L.; Le M. huppé, Enl. 502, 2. (The Crested 
Titmouse.) Brownish above; whitish beneath; throat and cir- 
cumference of the cheek, black; a little tuft mottled with black 
» .. and white. 
P. caudatus, L.; Le M. a longue queue, Enl. 502, 3; Naum. 
95,4, 5, 6. (The Long-tailed Titmouse.) Black above; wing- 
coverts, brown; upper part of the head and all beneath, white; 
tail longer than the body. It builds its nest on the limbs of 
small trees, and roofs it over.(1) The 
(1) Several species of the European Titmouse are also represented in the work 
of M. Roux, pl. cxvii—cxxiv. Add, Parus bicolor (Catesb. I, 57);—P. cyanus 
(Noy. Comm. Petrop., xiv, pl. xiii, fig. 1, and 23, fig. 2) and P. sxlbyensis (Sparm. 
M. Carls., pl. xxv) which appear to Bechstein to be the two sexes of one same spe- 
cies. Vieill- Gal. 68; Naum. 95, 6 ;—P. atricapillus (Briss. iti, pl. xxix, fig. 1) ;— 
P. sibiricus, (Enl. 708, fig. 3) and P. palustris, B. (Enl. 502, 1) which are three 
varieties, or very closely allied species ;—P. atriceps, Horsf.; Col. 287, 2. 
The Parus malabaricus (Sonner. Voy. Il, pl. cx, 1) and the coccineus (Sparm. 
Mus. Carls., 48, 49), P. furcatus, Col. 287, 1, are Saxicole or Flycatchers, neigh- 
bours to the Oranor, Vaill., the Mot. ruticilla, L., and the T'urdus speciosus, Lath. 
It may be observed, that in every instance where the characters of a bird are not 
well defined, it has been bandied about from one genus to another. 
