PARID&. 103 
THE GREAT TITMOUSE. 
Parus Major, Linneus. 
This species, often called the Ox-eye, is resident and generally 
distributed in suitable localities throughout England and Wales, 
Ireland, and the greater part of Scotland; but in the northern and 
western portions of the latter it becomes uncommon ; being only a 
rare visitant to the Isle of Skye, Sutherland, the Orkneys, and, 
perhaps, the Shetlands. 
In the comparatively mild climate of Norway the Great Titmouse 
is found as far north as the Arctic circle; but in Russia it has not 
been recorded beyond lat. 64° N., while in the valley of the Yenesei 
Seebohm did not find it above 58° N. Eastward it is met with in 
the wooded districts of Siberia as far as Transbaikalia. In Mongolia, 
China and Japan, its representative is P. minor: slightly smaller, 
with the under parts buffish-white instead of yellow. Our species is 
common over the whole of Europe; being migratory in the more 
northern countries, but resident in the temperate and southern, 
down to the Mediterranean. In most of the islands of that sea it 
is also found, though seldom in Malta; it occurs in the Canaries, 
is resident throughout a great part of North Africa, and abounds in 
Asia Minor, Palestine and Persia. 
