1 4° 
ALLEN’S NATURALIST’S LIBRARY. 
Adult Male. — General colour above ruddy brown, paler and 
more isabelline on the rump and upper tail-coverts; wings light 
brown, the feathers externally edged with the brown colour of 
the back, slightly tinged with olive on the quills, the greater 
coverts with a faint tip of whitish, forming an indistinct wing- 
bar ; tail-feathers ashy-brown with olive-brown margins ; crown 
of head glossy blue-black, forming a cap which extends back- 
wards down the nape ; eyelids black, dotted with white ; sides 
of face and ear-coverts ashy-white, like the under surface of the 
body, the sides of which are clear isabelline buff ; chin and 
upper throat black ; thighs, axillaries, and under wing-coverts 
like the sides of the body, the latter white near the edge of the 
wing; quill-lining ashy-white ; bill black; feet leaden-grey; 
iris hazel. Total length, 4^5 inches; culmen, C35 ; wing, 2'43 ; 
tail, 1 *95 ; tarsus, 0 6. 
Adult Female.— Similar to the male in colour. Total length, 
4'5 inches ; wing, 2-4. 
Young. — Has the colours of the adult, but has the cap duller 
black, not glossy, and confined to the crown of the head, not 
extending down the nape; the white colour of the under-parts 
very pure, and the light tips to the greater wing-coverts forming 
a distinct bar. 
Note. — Dr. Stejneger has separated our British Marsh-Tit as a sub- 
species on account of it;; darker colour, more olive back, clearer and 
more huffish-brown rump, much browner flanks and shorter tail, the 
outer pair of tail-feathers being shorter than the others. On comparing 
a series of specimens from different localities of Europe we find that 
Dr. Stejnegcr’s conclusions are borne out to a small extent. The 
differences in the case of the Marsh-Tits are not so marked as in the 
Coal-Tits, and as the former group vary much with locality and altitu le, it 
may he that connecting links will be found between our British bird and 
its continental ally. 
With regard to the shortness of the outer tail-feathers in the 
British bird, we find no difference, in this respect, between P. 
dresseri and P. palustris of the continent of Europe. The same 
may be said of the supposed difference in length of tail ; our 
series in the British Museum does not confirm Ur. Stejneger’s 
supposition. As regards the darker brown colour, this is un- 
doubtedly a feature of the British Marsh-Tit, and the rump is 
more clearly marked than in the continental bird ; the flanks 
