NUTHATCH 103 



of a narrow crevice which was just between the front wall 

 and the chimney stack of a cottage at Ruckinge. This 

 crevice passed in close to the fire-place, about 4 feet from 

 the ground, so that they would receive the warmth from 

 the stove. In this same crevice they reared two broods. 

 Nothing larger than themselves could get in, and no one 

 could touch the nest without pulling out the brickwork. 



CEESTED TITMOUSE. 



Pariis cristatus, Linn^us. S.N., i., p. 340 (1766). 



The first notice of this bird in Kent is to be found in 

 Mr. J. E. Harting's Birds of Middlesex, 1866, who says : 

 " One shot a few years ago at Blackheath, by Mr. Engle- 

 heart, in his garden ; this is the only instance that has 

 come to my knowledge of the Crested Tit having been 

 found so far south in England." In his Handbook, 1872, 

 this bird is again mentioned under Blackheath, Kent,' 

 but it is omitted from his last edition of that work (1901). 



The only other reference to the Crested Tit in Kent 

 is that given by Mr. G. Dowker in his Birds of East 

 Kent, 1889, in which he mentions one in the Canterbury 

 Museum, apparently obtained from the neighbourhood. 



Family SITTID^. 



Genus SITTA, LiniicTeus. 



NUTHATCH. 



^^itta ccBsia, Wolf. Taschenh. deutsch. Vog., i., p. 

 128 (1810). 



The Nuthatch is not plentiful, although generally dis- 

 tributed over the whole of Kent in suitable situations. 

 This bird restricts its haunts to the larger and older 



