NORTHERN TIT. 79 



of this, as other birds, become darker. Any one who has chanced to 

 hear P. palustris and P. borealis together, can easily distinguish that 

 the note of the latter is both sharper and rougher. The note f tit, 

 tit,' is sharper, and that which follows it, f tiah, tiah,' is rougher and 

 more lengthened. On this I lay great weight. 



"In Scania I have never seen P. borealis otherwise than in fir 

 forests, and here (Upsala) I have never seen P. palustris except in 

 leafy plantations, parks, gardens, etc. Here borealis, on the contrary, 

 is found sometimes near villages and farms, and we even see them in 

 leafy plantations; but they are found principally in the fir forests, and 

 here it is more common than palustris. I therefore stick to the opinion 

 I have previously given about them, and shall do so until proof is 

 adduced that borealis is only the northern form of palustris. I do 

 not know how the note can be so dissimilar. One thing is certain — 

 they are two different forms. Each person may, after all, agree about 

 their being different species, or not. 



"Professor Middendorff, of St. Petersburg, to whom I sent specimens 

 of both, and who only met with borealis in Siberia, considers it only 

 a variety of palustris. Probably he has never seen them together in a 

 free state, nor heard the difference in their notes. When I first shewed 

 Professor Nilsson P. borealis he directly found the specific difference 

 striking. So much can opinions vary in such cases, that before forming 

 a decided conclusion, we must have before our eyes those forms about 

 which there can be no doubt that they are those of which we are 

 reasoning. P. borealis is as distinct from P. palustris as Sylvia abietina 

 is from S. troehilus, S. arundinacea from S. palustris, S. philomela from 

 S. luscinia, S. hypolais from S. polyglotta, etc., although it is less 

 distinct from P. palustris than is P. sibiricus. The only thing which 

 can make less sure its title to specific rank, would be if it could be 

 shewn that P. palustris towards the north by degrees receives as well 

 the same apparel as the same call-note. This is an interesting question, 

 which naturalists should endeavour to find out. 



"Upsala, Nov. 11th., 1855. T. Liljeberg." 



I take the following from a paper by M. Patio, in the "Bulletin 

 de la Societe Ornithologique Suisse:" — 



"The Tit, Parus alpestris or borealis, has been observed and known 

 as being distinct from Parus palustris. First in the Grisons, in Swit- 

 zerland, by Conrad Baldenstein, who described under the name of 

 Parus cinereus montanus the bird known as alpestris. Possibly later 

 by Selys de Longchamps, who described it as coming from the north 

 as P. borealis. Then again by Bailly, who, having found it in Savoy, 



