MAESH-TITMOUSE 99 



Cameron. It is not uncommon in the old fir trees at 

 Thornhills, near Maidstone, and in the yews on Boxley 

 Hills. It was always to be found in the large fir trees at 

 Mereworth, and in Broadwater forest, near Tunbridge 

 Wells. The Kev. J. Pemberton Bartlett, in his Ornith- 

 ology of Kent, 1844, states it is "not common," and Mr. 

 G. Dowker says it is a " moderately common resident at 

 Stourmouth." It is also included in the Birds of the 

 Mailing Valley, by the Kev. C. H. Fielding. 



In his British Birds' Eggs, 1886, Dr. A. G. Butler 

 says : " I have received the nest of this species from Kent 

 as late as the beginning of June, it was taken out of a 

 decayed fruit tree, the heart of which it occupied, and 

 was at no great distance from the ground." 



MAESH-TITMOUSE. 



Parus imlustris, Linnaeus. H.N., i., p. 341 (176G). 



The Marsh-Titmouse is more numerous as a species 

 than either of the former, viz., the Great Titmouse and 

 Coal Titmouse, and less plentiful than the Blue Titmouse, 

 next to be mentioned. 



Although the name Marsh-Titmouse has been applied 

 to this species, it is more often found in the smaller 

 woods of Kent than in the low-lying country. It has 

 been obtained more commonly in all the wooded districts 

 from Ashford to Orlestone and Kuckinge, and the hillsides 

 overlooking Romney Marsh. These woods are cut down 

 every few years, and the Marsh-Tit makes a home of the 

 smaller growth, which at the end of two of three years 

 forms a thick mass in which these small birds can conceal 

 themselves. 



