110 
4 
preconceived ideas on the subject, by the study of its different forms, whether we should separate entirely 
Parus borealis (Linn.), P. alpestris (Bailly), and P. borealis (De Selys), or distinguish specifically only the first 
and last, making the second only a peculiar form of P. borealis. The Alpine or Northern Titmouse has been 
observed and recognized as distinct from the Marsh-Titmouse, first of all in the Grisons, in Switzerland, by 
Conrad de Baldenstein, who described the so-called Alpine form under the name of Parus cinereus montanus ; 
then, a little later, by De Selys-Longchamps, who described it from a more northern locality, under the name 
of P. borealis; then again by Bailly, who, having found it in Savoy, named it successively P. lugubris, 
P. alpestris, and P. borealis, believing altogether in the possibility of there being two distinct species. Pro- 
cured in Scandinavia, it was described by Wallenstein under the name of P. fruticeti; killed at Saléve, near 
Geneva, in June 1840, it was placed by M. G. Fatio, under the name of P. alpestris, in a group of Grey 
Titmice, along with P. sibiricus, P. lugubris, P. palustris, P. borealis, and P. atricapillus. Lastly, M. de Salis 
has once more described it quite recently under the name of its first describer, Parus baldensteinii. 
“J have myself studied these Titmice in our Alps, and have arrived at a firm conviction that P. alpestris 
is nothing more than a peculiar form of P. borealis, but that it still possesses good characters whereby it may 
be specifically distinguished from P. palustris. Having followed this Titmouse from the plain up to the limits 
of vegetation, it was evident to me, as I ascended the sides of the mountain, that first of all there was a decided 
jump from P. palustris to P. alpestris, but a gradual and continuous transition from the last-named to the true 
P. borealis. The more the northern form inhabits elevated localities in the Alps, the more does its size and 
coloration approach those of the North-European bird; and, vice versd, the more it inhabits the lower parts, 
the more it loses, naturally, the characters which a more rigorous climate had bestowed upon it. We can see 
here the comparative results in a tabular form, representing the proportions and colours, studied and followed 
up in different degrees of elevation :— 
Parus borealis on the 
Haute Engadine, 
from 1800 m. to 2200 m. 
Parus alpestris on the 
Oberland, 
from 1110 m. to 1800 m. 
Parus palustris on the plains 
and mountains, 
from 300 m. to 1110 m. 
Dimensions. 
millims. -millims. millims. 
Motalvlens therein rer eer From 116 to 118 From 120 to 124 and 130 | From 126 to 128 and 130 
Length of wing from the point ...... 61 to 63 65 to 66 65 to 68 
Length of tail from vent............ 52 to 53 57 to 58 or 59 56 to 57, 58 to 59 
or 6O 
Distance from the tip of the wing to 
iherendyotquh cabal Samer iit ee 24 to 27 28 to 29 31 to 33 or 34 
Length of beak from gape .......... 10 to 11 115 12 (even in spring) | 
to 14:5 
Length of beak from frontal plumes . . 75to 8 9 9 to 10, and in 
spring 11 
Breadth of beak across the nostrils .. 45 5 5, and in spring 6 
Height of beak at the nostrils........ 4 4:5 4-5, andin spring 5 
Meng hoigarsusererern errr ik 16 to 165 17 17 to 18 to 20 
Length of toe with the nail ...,.... 125 to 135 14 to 15 15 to 16 
IOUS OUNEMA, G caonocacaupaaconcse 
| Third and fourth primaries equal and 
longest. 
=the eighth or ninth 
Third and fourth equal and 
longest. 
=the eighth. 
Third and fourth equal and 
longest. 
About equal to the eighth. 
Third and fourth equal and 
longest. 
“There we have the proportions ; let us see now in the succeeding tables the styles of coloration compared 
in spring and autumn, according to these two liveries of the three same Titmice :— 
