3 
Mr. E. R. Alston, in ‘The Ibis’ (in a letter dated ‘‘Stockbriggs, Lanarkshire’), states that the 
Marsh-Titmouse ‘‘breeds here regularly, and is by no means a rare species, although not so 
plentiful as P. ater,” this locality not being included in Mr. More’s list. Mr. Alston likewise 
writes to us:—“‘ The Marsh-Titmouse is rare or local in most parts of Scotland, and appears 
to be totally absent in some districts, as I have already notified; in South Lanarkshire it 
breeds regularly, and is far from uncommon.” ‘The accompanying observations have likewise 
been contributed by the Duke of Argyll to Mr. Gould’s ‘ Birds of Great Britain’ :—‘I have 
never seen it in Argyll- or Dumbartonshire, whilst its closely allied congener, the Coal Tit, is 
very abundant. ‘This is a curious case of restricted distribution, which it is difficult to connect 
with any special conditions of food or climate. In the neighbourhood of London the Coal and 
Marsh Tits seem equally common, nor have I observed that in England marshlands are at all 
particularly the habitat of the Marsh-Tit. I may add that I have never observed the Marsh-Tit 
in Scotland at all; but my opportunities of observation have been chiefly in the western 
counties.” Our friend Mr. J. A. Harvie Brown sends us a note:—‘‘This is a species which 
I am strongly inclined to consider is rapidly pushing its range northward. As long ago as 
1860 I shot one specimen of the Marsh-Titmouse in Mid Lothian, and obtained a nest and 
eges, which I was assured had been taken at Duddingstone Loch, near Edinburgh; at that 
time it was considered a very rare bird in that district. For several years afterwards I only. 
observed an occasional pair, and then always in the autumn; but within the last three years it 
seems to have become of much more frequent occurrence in the midland counties of Scotland. 
I have in that time seen whole flocks in autumn and winter; and every spring I see pairs of 
birds in suitable localities. On Monday last, April 17th, I saw one bird in a small glen west 
of Stirling; and during last winter I obtained several specimens. Mr. E. R. Alston reports 
them as quite an abundant species in Lanarkshire, and as having been so for some years past.” 
Mr. R. Collett says that in Norway it is ‘chiefly limited to the southern and western parts of 
our country, and is found abundantly up to Trondhjem. Above that it is said to occur; 
but probably Parus borealis is meant. On the fell-sides it seldom ranges above the boundary 
of conifer-growth. Messrs. F. and P. Godman, in their paper on the Birds observed at Bodo 
during the spring and summer of 1867, remark, “One example only of this bird was noticed 
by us, on June 30th.” At Lofoten, in Norway, G. R. Barth found it in birch-thickets, but 
singly, and not, as it is generally found in Southern Norway, in large companies. Nilsson 
remarks that in Sweden it ranges up into the Polar Circle, and is found on the Fjelds as far as 
the birch-growth extends. Mr. Meves says that it occurs here and there in Oland, but is not 
found on Gothland. Our friend Mr. Benzon tells us it is pretty common all over Denmark in 
damp places, where hollow trees offer a suitable site for building-purposes. Pallas says it was 
met with all over Russia and Siberia; but we must state our opinion that this author has 
confused some of the allied species in his account of the Marsh-Titmouse. Mr. Swinhoe now 
excludes the true Parus palustris from the avifauna of China. 
In the Baltic provinces of Russia, Mayer records it as common; and it is equally abundant in 
Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. In the southern portion of the latter country, 
however, MM. Jaubert and Barthélemy Lapommeraye say that it becomes rarer, and in fact is only 
found accidentally at the commencement of winter. Mr. Howard Saunders writes to us to the 
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