88 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



it. It is usually placed in a hole in a tree or a stump — - 

 a rotten stake in the hedgerows, or even a gate-post, is 

 frequently selected, whilst holes in pollard willows and 

 alders are favourite sites, and occasionally a hole in the 

 ground itself, or a crevice in a dry wall, is made use of. 

 In many cases where the wood is soft and rotten the 

 birds excavate a hole for themselves, but where the 

 wood is hard a knot-hole is usually selected. The nest 

 is made at varying depths, sometimes not more than six 

 inches, at others twice or even three times that depth. 

 I have known it rarely as much as a yard. It is a 

 slovenly-made structure of moss, bits of dry grass, wool, 

 feathers, fur, and hair felted together and wedged tightly 

 into the bottom of the hole. The Marsh Titmouse is a 

 close sitter, and commences to hiss and bite when 

 touched by the hand, remaining on the eggs until 

 forcibly removed from them. The parent birds are also 

 very careful in visiting or leaving the nest. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Marsh Titmouse are from six to ten in 

 number. They are white in ground colour, spotted and 

 freckled with brownish-red, or reddish-brown. As a 

 rule the spots are most thickly distributed round the 

 larger end of the o.^^. On some eggs the spots are 

 minute, and scattered over most of the surface, whilst on 

 others they are larger, irregular in shape, and fewer in 

 number. Average measurement, '62 inch in length, by 

 •48 inch in breadth. Incubation, performed by both 

 sexes, lasts fourteen days. 



Diagnostic characters : It is impossible to give 

 any reliable character by which the eggs of the Marsh 

 Titmouse may be separated from those of allied species. 

 It is absolutely imperative that the parents should be 

 identified, to place the authentication of the eggs beyond 

 doubt. 



