Habits. Similar to those of cinereus. This little Titmouse is really more of a hills than a plains bird, though in the winter it wanders over a very wide extent of country. It prefers hills and broken country, more especially such as are fairly well covered with trees and forest, and it is found in the hills of Southern India practically up to their summits.
(56) Parus major tibetanus.
The Tibetan Great-Tit.
Parus major tibetanus Hartert, Vög. Pal., p. 346 (1905) (Chaksam).
Vernacular names. A'one recorded.
Description. Back decidedly green and the lower parts suffused with yellow. Its size alone at once distinguishes it from commixtus and minor, and it has more white on the tail than either of these races.
Colours of soft parts as in cinereus, but tarsi apparently paler and brighter slate-blue.
Measurements. Wing 66 to 79 mm., generally over 70; tail 66 to 74 mm.
Distribution. S.E. Tibet, Yunnan and N.E. Kauri Kachin Hills. Chumba Valley, Sikkim.
Nidification. A common breeder in the Gyantse Plain, Tibet, breeding both in holes in trees and in walls and banks. Eggs of a clutch, taken from a small natural hole in a willow, measure about 18.8 × 13.5 mm., and are richly marked for Great-Tit's eggs. The nest was of wool and Mouse-hare {Lagomys) fur. It was taken on 18.5.17.
Habits. Those of the species.
(57) Parus major commixtus.
The Burmese Great-Tit.
Parus commixtus Swinhoe, Ibis, p. 63 (1868) (S. China).
Parus minor. Blanf. & Oates, i, p. 48.
Vernacular names. Buinum memka (Burmese).
Description. Differs from tibetanus in having the green confined to the upper back and scapulars, the yellow below is obsolete or very slight, and the white on the outer tail-feathers is less extensive. From the true minor of Japan and N. China it differs in being much less green above, and more buff or vinaceous rather than yellow below.
Colours of soft parts as in cinereus.
Measurements. Wing 61 to 68 mm., generally under 66; tail 53 to 61 mm.
Distribution. Tenasserim, Eastern Burma, Siam, Shan States and S. China.
