PARIDA. 107 
THE MARSH-TITMOUSE. 
PaRus PALUSTRIS, Linnzeus. 
The Marsh-Titmouse is another of our resident species ; but with 
the exception of the Crested Titmouse it is the least plentiful and 
the most local of the genus. Its name is somewhat misleading, for 
the bird may often be seen in orchards and gardens, and even in 
pine-woods ; but it is partial to the vicinity of rivers, and to the 
alders and pollarded willows which flourish on swampy ground. In 
England, and in suitable parts of Wales, it is fairly common ; but in 
Scotland it is local, and was not known to breed to the north of the 
valley of the Forth, until in 1893, Mr. W. Evans found it nesting in 
Strathspey. In Mullit was abundant in October 1878. In Ireland it is 
rare ; it has been recorded from cos. Antrim, Kildare, and Dublin. 
British examples are somewhat browner on the upper parts and 
flanks than Continental specimens, and, according to Dr. Stejneger, 
they have also shorter tails. Nevertheless those ornithologists who 
have admitted the British Coal-Tit to be a distinct species, have not 
been equally courageous as regards the British Marsh-Tit, although 
the differences between the dull insular and the bright Continental 
forms are quite as marked. Dr. Stejneger has emphasized his 
opinion of this omission by naming our bird P. palustris dressert ; 
and, as I agree with him that it is inconsistent to recognize specific 
distinctness in the former case and to reject it in the latter, I have 
