PARING. 81 



50. PARUS PALUSTRIS. 



(MARSH-TIT.) 



Panis palusti-ts, Linneus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 341 (1766). 



In the Marsh-Tits the black on the crown extends to the bill and 

 covers the nape, and the black on the throat is very restricted. 



Figures : Dresser, Birds of Europe, iii. pis. 108, 109. 



The Marsh-Tit is a resident on all the Japanese Islands (Blakiston 

 and Pryer, Trans. As. Soc. Japan, 1882, p. 150). It was first 

 described as a Japanese bird from examples obtained by Dr. Hender- 

 son, during the cruise of the ' Portsmouth,' at Hakodadi in October 

 1857 (Cassin, Proc. Acad. iSTat. Sc. Philad. 1858, p. 193). There 

 are three examples in the Swinhoe collection from Hakodadi pro- 

 cured by Captain Blakiston in winter (Swinhoe, Ibis, 1874, p. 156) ; 

 and Mr. Snow obtained it on the Kurile Islands. There are six 

 examples in the Pryer collection from Yokohama, and it is common 

 in Central Hondo both in summer and winter (Jouy, Proc. United 

 States Nat. Mus. 1883, p. 286). 



The range of the Marsh-Tit extends across the Palaearctic Region 

 from the British Islands to Japan, embracing a variety of climates, 

 each of which possesses a more or less distinct race of Marsh-Tit. 

 The two extremes appear to have become specifically distinct, as it 

 is not known that either of them completely intergrades with the 

 typical race. The Marsh-Tits of Kamtschatka have the upper parts 

 sandy white, and the flanks pure white, and may be regarded as 

 distinct under the name of Parus kamtschatkensis of Bonaparte. In 

 Turkestan and Mongolia the other extreme, Parus songarus of 

 Severtzow, occurs, with very brown upper parts and flanks. The 

 other races of Marsh-Tit appear completely to intergrade and to be 

 climatic rather than local races. Parus palustris baikalensis is the 

 Arctic form with the widest range, extending from Archangel across 

 Siberia to Vladivostok. The eastern examples are on an average 

 slightly larger than the western, but they seem to have smaller bills. 

 They are all very grey, and the black on the head is prolonged to 

 the upper back. The two semi-arctic forms, Parus palustris borealis 

 in Scandinavia, and Parus palustris japonicus (Seebohm, Ibis, 1879, 

 p. 32) in Southern Japan, are almost identical in colour, but the 

 latter are slightly more sandy brown on the upper parts and flanks. 



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