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2 
tail very long, bright prussian-blue in colour, the bases of the feathers greyish black, and the shafts black 
where the blue colour prevails, white where the webs of the feathers are of this colour; outer tail-feathers 
white, all the rest white towards the apical half of each rectrix, gradually diminishing in extent towards 
the two centre tail-feathers, where it is only seen in the shape of a white tip of greater or less size; 
under surface of the body entirely white, with a small patch of bluish black in the centre of the breast ; 
bill blackish; feet leaden gray; iris blackish brown. ‘Total length 5-3 inches, culmen 0:4, wing 2-7, 
tail 2°7, tarsus 0°65. 
Young. -Crown of the head greyish, surrounded by a ring of yellowish white feathers; a line of greyish 
feathers through the eye joining the nape, but not exhibiting any blue lustre, back greyish, with very 
little of the bluish tint observable on the back of the adult bird, but with no perceptible amount of white 
on the sides of the rump or upper tail-coverts ; wings and tail as in the old bird, but the blue not so bright, 
and the white scarcely so broadly indicated; under surface of the body yellowish white. Total length 
5 inches, culmen 0:4, wing 2°6, tail 2°6, tarsus 0°65. 
Tus species is the most strikingly coloured of all the European Titmice, and is always mentioned 
by ornithologists as the most beautiful of all the Paridee found within the limits of our continent. 
It is more common in Siberia, but is nevertheless sufficiently plentiful in European Russia, 
whence it wanders occasionally into Kastern Germany. 
It has been stated to have occurred at Saby, in Sodermanland, and has on that account been 
included by Professor Sundevall in his work the ‘ Birds of Sweden.’ Twice it has been noticed 
in Denmark ; for Kjeerbélling states that a small flock was seen at Sanderumgaads Have on Fyen ; 
and it has been observed by M. Bouriez near Greena. In his recent work on the distribution of 
birds in Germany, Borggreve says that according to Gloger it has been procured several times at 
Breslau ; and Naumann thinks he saw it at Anhalt. Dr. Sturm, of Nurnberg, relates, in the 
‘ Journal ftir Ornithologie’ (1854, p. 265), that in December 1852 one of these birds was observed 
in the Steinbtihl garden near that town, but was not shot. A specimen killed in Austria is pre- 
served in the Vienna Museum; and the above-mentioned occurrences seem to mark the most 
western range of the species in Europe. 
In Poland, our friend Dr. L. Taczanowski informs us, it isa very rare straggler; for during the 
thirty years he has lived there he has only once obtained a specimen, near Lublin, though he 
knows of two other examples caught near Warsaw—all three having been procured in the autumn. 
M. Henser, of St. Petersburg, in a letter to our friend, M. Carl Sachse, states that in the spring of 
the year it is common at St. Petersburg, and is caught with Blue Titmice, Redbreasts, and Blue- 
throated Warblers, and offered for sale by the bird-catchers in the market. Pallas also mentions 
its occurrence in the neighbourhood of St. Petersburg. It is found in Southern Russia; for Prof. 
von Nordmann states that it occurs rarely in winter near Odessa, but is commoner in Bessarabia 
on the willow-covered shores of the lakes and banks of rivers. According to M. Leonida Saba- 
naeff the present species is not rare in the Southern Ural; and we have received some beautiful 
specimens of his collecting, for which we have to thank our friend Dr. Renard, of Moscow. 
Pallas gives the eastern range of the Azure Titmouse as extending from the Volga throughout 
the whole of Siberia. Dr. Dybowski has found it nesting on the banks of the river Onon in 
Eastern Siberia; and some notes of his are given below. Dr. G. Radde states that he “ found this 
species on the shores of the river and islands above the Bureja Mountains, especially amongst the 
