. A history of British birds . of the wing two inches and three-eighths : the third primary shorter than the fourth, which isequal to the fifth, and these two are the longest in the sexes do not differ in plumage : the young resemblethe adults, but have the colours less bright. By many authors the Paridce are thought to bear affinityto the Crows, and some members of both groups certainlyhave in common the habit of grasping their prey with onefoot while picking it. It may be safely said that birds moreuseful to the gardener and the planter than the four speciesof Titmouse now described
. A history of British birds . of the wing two inches and three-eighths : the third primary shorter than the fourth, which isequal to the fifth, and these two are the longest in the sexes do not differ in plumage : the young resemblethe adults, but have the colours less bright. By many authors the Paridce are thought to bear affinityto the Crows, and some members of both groups certainlyhave in common the habit of grasping their prey with onefoot while picking it. It may be safely said that birds moreuseful to the gardener and the planter than the four speciesof Titmouse now described do not exist in Britain. Theworst that can be proved against them is that they occa-sionally help themselves to hazel-nuts and walnuts, and thatsometimes a bird acquires the trick of taking bees from theirhives. This last must be regarded as an individual pecu-liarity, and when observed should, in the interest of the wholerace, be speedily stopped by the destruction of the malefactor. CRESTED TITMOUSE. 499 PASSE RES. Parus cristatus, Linnaeus*.THE CRESTED TITMOUSE. Parus cristatus. The Crested Titmouse is as local in Britain as thespecies already described are common. It was first includedas a British Bird by Walcott, who, in 1789, said, Thisbird has been lately observed in Scotland, once in a con-siderable flock. In 1802 Montagu stated that it was notuncommon amongst the large tracts of pines in the northof Scotland, particularly in the forest of Glenmoorf, theproperty of the Duke of Gordon, from whence we have seenit. In the same year Latham (Gen. Syn. Suppl. ii. p. 255)confirmed the fact of the species being plentiful in someparts of Scotland, especially in the pine-forests, whence, he * Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 340 (1766). t Mr. Gray informs the Editor that the very okl timber, consisting chiefly ofScotch firs and oaks, in this forest, the name of which is more correctly speltGlenmore, was cut down towards the end of the last contiiry. 500 added, lie had
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