BRITISH BIRDS, 
41 
THE CRESTED TITMOUSE. 
(Parus Cristatus 9 Lin . — Le Mesange Huppee.j 
This solitary and shy species is somewhat larger 
than the blue Titmouse, being more than four inches 
and a half in length. It is distinguished from the rest 
of the genus by having its head ornamented with a 
peaked crest of black feathers, narrowly margined with 
white ; those between the crest and the brow are of the 
same colours, but the white greatly predominates. The 
bill and irides are dusky ; the cheeks, and sides of the 
head and neck are dull white ; the chin, and fore part 
of the neck to the breast is black ; from thence a line 
of the same colour branches off, and bounding the 
white part of the neck, extends to the hinder part of 
the head ; the auriculars, with the exception of a white 
spot in the middle, are black, and form a patch of that 
colour, which is pointed off towards the nape; the 
