55 



THE CHANGING DISTRIBUTION OF THE L0NG=TA1LED 

 TITMOUSE IN THE WEST RIDING.* 



HARRY B. BOOTH, M.B.O.U. 



Messrs. Clarke and Roebuck, in their ' Vertebrate Fauna of 

 Yorkshire,' say that prior to 1881, the Long-tailed Titmouse 

 was a resident, generally distributed and fairly common, most 

 frequently seen in autumn and winter.' Mr. T. H. Nelson, in 

 ' The Birds of Yorkshire,' 1907, says exactly the same thing, 

 but adds — ' during the breeding season it is rather locally 

 distributed.' Mr. Nelson also gives the first reference to the 

 bird in the county from North Bierley, Bradford ; when, in 

 the year 1713, Dr. Richardson described as that of the Gold- 

 c^cst, a nest which was referable to the species under discussion. 

 This is interesting because it refers to part of the district to 

 which these notes chiefly apply, viz., the drainage area of the 

 river Aire above Leeds, and the drainage area of the river 

 Wharfe above Otley. Twenty years ago the Long-tailed 

 Titmouse bred regularly in small numbers in both these areas. 

 In 1889 I found nests both in upper Airedale and in upper 

 Wharfedale, and it probably nested there until a few years 

 later. It was during the year 1895 that it first occurred to 

 me that this species appeared to be absent from the district 

 during the breeding season ; but reflection and discussion 

 revealed the fact that neither birds nor nests had been noticed 

 during the previous two or three seasons. 



It is much easier to note the advent than the exit of a 

 rather uncommon small bird ; because in the latter case, 

 one's attention and curiosity is at once aroused, but continual 

 observations have to be made over a considerable area before 

 it is possible to state definitely that the species has ceased to 

 occur in the district. However, from that time forward, a 

 better look-out was kept, with the result that not a single nest 

 is known to have been found since then. 



On May 17th, of 1907, however, two adult birds were seen 

 in Bolton Woods, but they were not seen again, although the 

 spot was carefully searched just after by Mr. Roose. In the 

 same year, two birds with a young family were noticed in the 

 Skipton Castle Woods, by Mr. W. Wilson, where they were 



* Read at a recent meeting- of the Vertebrate Section of the Yorkshire 

 Naturalists" Union. 



1909 February i. 



