LONG-TAILED TITS. 487 



Islands of the west, as^ for instauce, Islay and SkyCj in which latter 

 locality Dixon met with it. A party of four were seen by Dr. Saxby 

 in Unst in the middle of April 1860 ; but that gentleman states that he has 

 never met with the bird in any other part of the Shetlands ; nor does it 

 ever appear to have visited the Orkneys or the Faroes. In Ireland the 

 Long-tailed Tit^ according to Thompson, is distributed through the wooded 

 districts, especially in the northern portions of the island, although not 

 commonly. 



The British form of the Long -tailed Tit is found in France, Western 

 Germany, Northern Italy, and some parts of Turkey, and apparently 

 interbreeds with the Continental form A. caudata, which differs from it 

 in the adult bird having a pure white head. The latter form ranges 

 throughout Northern and Central Europe between the Arctic circle and 

 the Alps, its range extending eastwards through Southern Siberia to the 

 Pacific. In the north, from St. Petersburg eastwards, the tail is somewhat 

 lengthened, varying from 3'7 to 4 inch, instead of from 3"3 to 3-5 inch. 

 This form has received the name of A. macrura, and is replaced in the 

 valley of the Amoor by A. caudata, although, curiously enough, it 

 reappears on the island of Askold. In Kamtschatka, the North Island of 

 Japan, and in Manchuria one of these two forms occurs ; but on the chief 

 island of Japan A. trivirgata is found, which is, in fact, a reappearance 

 of A. rosea, whose only claim to rank as a distinct species rests on the 

 fact that in the majority of skins, though not in all, the black supercilium 

 passes across the lores to the base of the bill. In Spain, Central and South 

 Italy, and Sicily A. irbii is found, in which the vinaceous colour on the 

 scapulars is replaced by grey ; but in Lombardy it would appear that 

 A. irbii and A. rosea interbreed, as intermediate examples occur. In the 

 Balkan peninsula, Asia Minor, Persia, and Turkestan a distinct species, 

 A. tephronota, occurs, resembling A. irbii, but differing from it in having 

 a black patch on the throat. It is not known how far east this bird 

 ranges ; but in China it is represented by A. glaucogularis, a species only 

 differing from it in having the white forehead replaced by black. 



The Long-tailed Tit is a lover of the woods and groves ; and unless the 

 district is a well-timbered one, it is almost useless to expect to fall in with 

 it. Like all its little congeners, it may often be seen in the vicinity of 

 houses, haunting the gardens and orchards. Favourite places are the 

 broad pasture-lands divided from each other by tall hedges, with here and 

 there a little plantation, or a waste corner left to grow bushes of gorse 

 and blackthorn. It may often be seen on the borders of the forest, on the 

 land which is, as it were, struggling against the encroachment of the trees, 

 and studded with tall hawthorns, a few birches, and plenty of thicket, in 

 which the " Bottle-Tit " loves to build its nest. 



As with all the Tits, the present species is perhaps the most engaging 



