INTRODUCTION. 
Ivii 
favour us witli its presence, it is mostly in the winter, especially if that season happens to be severe. A 
distinct species is found in Japan ; and the A. cedrorum, as we all know, frequents America. 
Family SITTID^E. 
Taking our Common Nuthatch as a typical example, and omitting the members of the allied subgenera 
Callisitta, Dendrophila, and Hypherpes, there exist about a dozen species of this family, some, if not all, 
possessing the peculiarity of being able to run up and run down the boles of trees with equal facility. They 
frequent the temperate portions of Europe, Asia, and America. 
71. SlTT.\ CiESIA . 
Vol. II. PI. XXII. 
Nuthatch. 
This species is not, as has been supposed, entirely confined to Britain ; for it is also found in some of the 
Danish islands and elsewhere. With us it is stationary and common all over England, hut is somewhat rare 
in Cornwall, very scarce in Scotland, and never found in Ireland. 
Family PARIDiE. 
More than a hundred species of Tits have been already named ; and there are doubtless many more 
yet to be described. The countries frequented by these tree-loving birds are Europe, Asia, Japan, the 
Philippines, Java, and Sumatra. Africa, also, from north to south, contains its fair quota ; nor are they 
absent from America, in which country they are principally found in its northern regions. Structurally they 
present much variety ; and in consequence the entire group has been divided into many genera. In the 
British Islands, exclusive of the so-called Bearded Tit, which belongs to an entirely different family, we have 
six species, which constitute the typical examples of almost as many genera. I have, however, only adopted 
a portion of them, keeping four in the genus Pams, one in Poscile, and one in Mecistura. The chief food 
of the Tits consists of insects and their larvse, with occasionally the addition of fruit. They are mostly pert 
and lively birds, assuming many varied positions while searching for food among the leafy branches of trees 
and shrubs. 
Genus Pauus. 
72. Parus major ............ Vol. II. PI. XXIII. 
Great Tit. 
Resident and common over the three kingdoms. Breeds in April and May. Youthful birds have their 
cheeks stained with yellow, while in the adult the sides of the face are white. 
Generally distributed over Central Europe. 
Q 
