WHITE-HEADED LONG-TAILED TIT. 75 



which calls for close and assiduous study, till 

 they are as bewildering as the American Horned 

 Larks to characterise. 



The Tits are essentially northern birds, that 

 is to say, the bulk of the species are inhabitants 

 of the northern parts of the old and new Worlds. 

 South America is innocent of them, so is 

 Australia, so is Oceania, Africa has a few, India 

 a few ; but the bulk are Palaearctic and Neartic. 



The Palaearctic Region is the northern region of 

 the Old World. It embraces the whole of Europe 

 and North-western Africa; includes Syria and 

 Palestine, and then stretches eastward, taking in 

 Asia Minor and Persia, trending thence to 

 Afghanistan and the confines of the Indian 

 Region and includes the whole of the- countries 

 to the north of the Himalayas, and all the 

 countries north of the great river Yangtze in China. 



This region is not very rich in families of 

 birds, like the more tropical ones, such as the 

 Ethiopian Region, with its Touracoes and Colies ; 

 the Indian Region with its wealth of Hill-Tits 

 {LiotrichidcB), its Broadbills {Eurylcemidce), and 

 its Babblers {TimeliidcB) ; the Australian Region 

 with its Lyre Birds, Birds of Paradise, and 



