1'. cristatus, Lin. &c. Crested Titmouse. Reddish grey above, white beneath ; collar black; head furnished with a crest. This is a shy and solitary bird, and being chiefly limited to the pine forests of Europe, or to desolate heaths, overrun with juniper bushes, is not generally known. Its retreat and its caution, for the most part, save it from the fowler's snares, or, if surprised, it refuses food, and, spurning every soothing attention, soon expires in confinement. It has been observed in Sweden, some parts of the north of France, and in the western and temperate parts of Russia, but not in Siberia. Though not found in England, it has been met with in the pine forests of the north of Scotland, particularly in that of Glenmoor, the property of the Duke of Gordon. According to Meyer, it nestles in the hollow of a tree, the rent of an old wall, or among stone heaps, and sometimes in the forsaken abode of a squirrel, and lays from eight to ten eggs, of a beauti ful white, spotted or dashed with bloody red. It is said to exhale the odour of the juniper, and of other resinous trees, among which it principally resides.
P. caudatus, Lin. &c. Long-tailed Titmouse. Prov. Bottle Toni, Long-tail Pie, Long-tail "flag, Long-tail Ca pon, Huck-muck, and Mug-ruffin. Varied longitudinally with white, rose-colour, and black ; crown white, and tail long. The last character is sufficiently discriminative; for the tail is longer than the body ; yet both together measure only five inches and a quarter ; and, though the rumpled and discomposed, or rather bristling state of the feathers, imparts somewhat of an inflated appearance to the bird, its body is very small, the whole weighing only two drachms. The male has more of the rose colour than the female; but, in both, the markings are liable to vary. It is a native of the woods and thickets of Europe, is very abundant in Holland, and by no means uncommon in many districts of our own island. In spring, it has a pleasing song; but at other times only a shrill call. The young birds remain with the parents during winter, assembling at night, and roosting on the branch of a tree, closely hud dled together. They feed like the rest of the genus. The nest is singularly curious and elegant, being of a long oval form, with a small hole in the side, and sometimes with an opening near the top, at each side, so that in certain situ ations, the dam can go in and out, without injury to its long tail, which is but loosely put together, and easily discomposed. The situation is generally the forking of a tree, overgrown with lichens, about three or four feet from the ground. The outside is formed of moss, woven or matted together with the silken shrouds of the aurelix of insects, and covered all over with tree and stone lichens, fixed with fine threads of the same silken material. From
this covering the rain trickles off, without penetrating the fabric; while, from its similarity in colour and appearance to the bark on which it is placed, it is not readily perceiv ed. The inside is thickly furnished with feathers, the soft webs of which are all laid inwards, and the quills or points stuck into the outward part of the structure. In this com fortable little mansion, which is fashioned neither after the manner of those of the family which breed in trees or walls, nor after that of the hang-nest sorts, the female deposits from ten to sixteen or seventeen eggs, little larger than peas, some of them pure white, others white and delicate ly speckled with red, and all assuming a fine red blush, when held between the eye and the light, owing to the transparency of the shell, which shows the yolk. From the circumstance of many of them being almost entirely concealed among the feathers, some have supposed that the hatch is less numerous than a careful examination has proved it to be. Some writers maintain, that these birds are permanent residents in the countries in which they breed : and others that they migrate ; statements not irre concilable, if we suppose that they are addicted to partial migrations, varying their range according to circumstan ces, and changing when they want a better. They are seldom caught in traps; nor are they deemed fit for the table.
P. bicolor, Lin. Ecc. Toupet Titmouse of Pennant, Crested Titmouse of Catesby, Latham, and Wilson. Head crested, forehead black ; body ash-coloured above, and reddish-white beneath. Crest of a deep cinereous ; tail slightly forked ; the female similar to the male, but less bright in its hues. Length between five and six inches : native of North America, and the South of Greenland. It has a singular flight, frequently folding up its wings. It inhabits the forests of Carolina and Virginia the whole year, and feeds principally on insects. It nestles early in May, in the hole of a tree, which it sometimes scoops out by its own exertions. The hatch usually consists of six white eggs, marked with a few small red spots, near the broad end. The male is remarkable for the varied com pass of his notes, which are sometimes as feeble as the chirp of a mouse, and sometimes a clear and sonorous whistle, which resounds in the woods for nearly half an hour, and which he always accompanies with a precipitate movement of his wings. When captured and confined, this bird will eat hempsecd, cherry-stones, apple-seeds, and similar substances, if broken in small fragments. It likewise soon becomes very familiar; but, if put into a wooden cage, it soon effects its escape.