PENDULINE TIT. 75 



Saxony, and Sicily. According to Malherbe, they are sedentary in 

 the marshes of Catania. They have not been observed in Sardinia 

 nor Malta. They appear on the banks of the Po and Daura, near 

 Turin, in March and April, but they go away immediately after their 

 young have flown, which is generally about the middle of July. This 

 bird frequents the shores of rivers and ponds, and it makes its nest 

 on the neighbouring trees. The beautiful nest, made of the woolly 

 seeds of the poplar and willow, contains four to six eggs, which are 

 white with rosy spots." 



Doderlein says of this bird: — "It is not unfrequent in the valleys 

 of the Modenese mountains. It arrives in April, and nests, and leaves 

 again in October. It is rather rare near Modena; Tognoli only found 

 very few in the spring of 1865 and in 1867 among the poplar trees 

 of Pentetozzi. This clever taxidermist informed me that in the 

 summer of 1869 several were killed upon the lakes of the high 

 plains of Paullo, where they seem to have nested. The museum of 

 Modena possesses a beautiful nest of this species interwoven with the 

 down of the poplar. This bird is common in the marshy lands of 

 Sici]y. It lives in some abundance in Catania and neighbourhood of 

 Syracuse. It is rare near Palermo, probably because neighbouring 

 marshes of Mondella and Ficarazzi are often visited by naturalists 

 and other travellers. This species has not yet been noticed in 

 Sardinia." 



The male bird in breeding plumage has the top of the head and 

 throat white, frequently verging into grey, which extends to the nape 

 and scapularies. The back and wing coverts rich russet, becoming 

 lighter towards the rump. Forehead black, edged with deep ochreous; 

 cheeks and ear coverts black; neck and crop light russet, spotted with 

 the same rich deep ochreous colour of the back; the rest of the 

 abdomen light fawn-colour, the flanks darker; primaries clay brown; 

 secondaries same colour, slightly tipped with white; tertials brown, 

 deeply bordered with greyish white, tinged with russet; tail of moderate 

 length and emarginate, the feathers all more or less brown, bordered 

 with greyish white; beak black; feet and legs lead grey; iris yellow. 



The female has the top of the head grey, and the black of the 

 forehead is wanting, but there is a spot of ochreous brown just above 

 the base of the beak; the inferior parts are of a deeper fawn-colour 

 than those of the male, and the brown of the wings and tail feathers 

 is lighter, and the grey border not so broad. 



The young before the first moult has the black parts of the fore- 

 head, cheeks, and ear coverts replaced by russet; the ochreous colour 

 of the back is less deep than in the adult; the under parts of the 

 body are of a light red. 



