254 



BIRDS. 



appears to have suffered from the severe winter weather of January 

 1895. Hinxman writes us (May 5th, 1895): — I have not once 

 heard the unmistakable call-note of the Marsh Tit, which was 

 plentiful here last year ' ; but he adds : — ' Crested Tits much as 

 usual.' The remark appears to us to bear a certain significance in 

 connection with the possible origin of dispersal of the Marsh Tit 

 or both, and routes thence, into Spey. 



Parus caeruleus, L. Blue Tit. 



Common and widely distributed, though by no means as abundant 

 as the Cole Tit. We have records of it from most parts of our 

 northern area, such as Invergarry, etc., but we did not observe it 

 during a few days' stay in the neighbourhood of Guisachan. 



As in the northern part of our area, the Blue Tit, though 

 resident, is not so abundant as the Cole Tit south of the Caledonian 

 Canal. At the same time, it is found commonly throughout the 

 area, as far up as Tomintoul on the Avon, and up the glens of the 

 Carn district, far up the main course of Spey and tributaries as far 

 as birchwood and hardwoods reach. Hinxman does not consider 

 it so abundant as the Cole Tit in Glen Avon and Glenlivet, how- 

 ever, and seems even to think that it is less abundant than the 

 Long-tailed Tit and Great Tit in the areas where he has been at 

 work. 



Parus cristatus, L. Crested Tit 



Writing from Edinburgh in November 1844, Mr. T. Macpherson 

 Grant says : — ' I procured two Crested Tits near Carr Bridge 

 several years ago, which I now have stuffed. They are the only 

 specimens which have ever been seen by the birdstuffers here, 

 and are those from which Mr. M'Gillivray took his descriptions.' 

 Wolley met with them plentifully in Dulnan Wood, and procured 

 several specimens there. In 1851 the late Mr. Macleay of Inver- 

 ness had some specimens sent him for preservation from Carr 

 Bridge. 



In 1847, as Mr. Lewis Dunbar informs us in his own words, 

 * I was sent for by Mr. Snowie, Inverness, to be introduced to the 

 celebrated naturalist, Mr. John Gould. He put several questions 

 to me about the birds breeding in Strathspey. I mentioned the 

 Siskin, Crossbill, and Crested Tit. The latter he did not believe 



