482 BRITISH BIRDS. 



subgenerically^ although they have been so separated by Kaup under the 

 generic name of Lophophanes. Some of these crested Tits inhabit the 

 Himalayas^ and others are found in North America ; and it does not appear 

 that there are any other characters by ■which to separate them from the 

 non-crested Tits. The Crested Tit has no near ally in the eastern hemi- 

 sphere. The only species which approaches it is P wollweberi, which in- 

 habits MexicOj New Mexico^ Arizona^ and Western Texas. The most 

 important difference between the two species is that the American bird 

 has the white on the crest replaced by slate-grey. 



The Crested Tit can scarcely be called a migratory bird, though in 

 autumn it partially forsakes the pine-forests, where it breeds, and is seen 

 in winter in many of the small woods and plantations, and even the gardens, 

 in the neighbouring districts ; but even in these localities it prefers the pine 

 to any other tree. 



The Crested Tit is not a bird of the desert ; but it is emphatically a bird 

 of the sand — not on account of the sand, but for the pines that grow on 

 the dunes and sand plains. The first step in the transformation of sand 

 into arable land is to plant pine trees, under which a soil is gradually 

 accumulated from the decayed bark, spines, cones, and branches of the 

 trees, together with the grass, moss, and underwood which the moisture 

 under the perennial shade causes to grow. In the south-east of Holland, 

 at Valconswaard, and in the south-west of France, at Arcachon, you may 

 travel for miles over country where sand and pine trees are almost the only 

 feature in the landscape. These forests are the paradise of the Crested Tit. 

 I spent a summer at Valconswaard and a winter at Arcachon, and in both 

 districts I was struck with the abundance of this handsome little bird. It 

 is not only the commonest Tit of the pine-forest, but the commonest bird. 

 Most birds prefer the outskirts of the forest, near to the patches of cultivated 

 land. In the heart of a forest birds are generally rare, in winter especially 

 so. What few birds there are, seem to be more or less gregarious. In 

 wandering through the pine-forests of Arcachon we sometimes did not see 

 a bird for half an hour. Then a Crested Tit would be heard ; three or 

 four more would be sure to be in its company, and most likely a Great 

 Tit or two, and a few Goldcrests or Firecrests. In most of these batches 

 of birds there were a few Chaffinches, and very often a Creeper. Now and 

 then Long-tailed Tits formed a portion of the party, and rarely a few Coal 

 Tits ; but Crested Tits were always there. They are very active, flitting from 

 branch to branch, running over the pine-cones in search of insects ; and 

 they seem to have taken a leaf out of the book of their associate the 

 Creeper, and may often be seen on the trunks of the pines, where they 

 search for insects in the crevices of the bark. Sometimes they runup the 

 stems of the pines exactly as the Creeper does. It is not difficult to recog- 

 nize the Crested Tit on the wing. In the bright sunshine which is such a 



