116 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
A HITHERTO OVERLOOKED BRITISH BIRD. 
By Ernst HArtrert. 
In a country so well explored and so well stocked with truth- 
seeking ornithologists as Great Britain, the addition of a bird 
“new to the British list”’ is always an event. Nevertheless 
several such additions have been made lately, but they were all 
stragglers from the far east or west; and it is, I believe, a long 
time ago that a resident breeding species has been added to the 
list. This, however, has occurred now with the discovery in 
England of Parus salicarius, Brehm. 
It is well known that the Marsh Tits, to which this species 
belongs, consist of a number of local forms, partly recognized as 
species, partly as subspecies, by modern ornithologists. Thus 
over the greatest part of Central Europe we find a common 
Marsh Tit with a glossy, somewhat bluish-black head, generally 
called Parus palustris. To it belongs the common English 
Marsh Tit, which has been called P. dresseri, but which hardly 
differs in colour from West German and French specimens, but 
is a little smaller, and has a shorter bill. It is no species, but 
should be recognized as a subspecies by exact workers. From it 
the Kast German bird differs much more, especially in colour; 
but, strange to say, this fact has only recently been recognized. 
Different from these subspecifically allied forms are the Northern 
Marsh Tits, known as P. borealis, and replaced by a very closely 
allied form in the Alps. These Tits are always admitted to be 
different from the common Central European Marsh Tits. They 
differ at a glance by the colour of the crown, which looks less 
glossy and more of a brownish black. ‘To this group also 
belongs Parus salicarius. This different colour is produced 
by a very different structure of these feathers. In the common 
Marsh Tits these feathers are deep black, rounded, and with 
strong glossy reflexes on the tips. In the Northern Marsh 
Tit and our P. salicarius they are brownish black, more 
