Every species of titmouse winters with us; they have what I call a kind of intermediate bill between the hard and the soft, between the Linnaean genera of fringilla and motacilla.
"The-Natural-History-of-Selborne"
White, Gilbert
The genus fringilla, which belongs to the great family of the Finches, appears to be not only of European origin, but, if the range of the species counts for anything, I should feel inclined to locate their home in the south-west.
"The History of the European Fauna"
R. F. Scharff