132 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



The nest is not amongst the reeds, but in beds of reed mace 

 or sedge (Plate 55) ; it is built upon a platform of dead and 

 decaying stems at a height of several inches above the water, 

 and is constructed of blades of sedge or reed, lined with flowers 

 of reed. To these, in one nest that I examined, were added a 

 few fealhers cf Black-headed Gull and Heron. The cock helps 

 in building, incubation and care of the young. The creamy 

 white egg (Plate 58) is thinly speckled with pale brown or liver 

 spots or marked with fine wavy lines. Five to se\ en, occasion- 

 ally more, are laid in April, and two or even more broods are 

 reared, even so late as September. 



The head of the male is blue-grey, the rest of the upper parts 

 orange-tawny ; from the lores, and partly encircling the eye, is 

 a black patch which runs down the neck as a conspicuous 

 moustachial streak ending in pointed feathers. The scapulars 

 are huffish white, and the secondaries streaked buff, black and 

 tawny ; the primaries and outer tail feathers are margined with 

 white. The flanks are tawny, the chin, throat and breast greyish 

 white, with a pink suftusion on the last ; the under tail-coverts 

 are deep black. The bill is orange-yellow, the legs black and 

 the irides yellow. The female has no black on head cr tail- 

 coverts ; her head is brown and her back faintly streaked. 

 The head and back of the young are streaked with dark 

 chocolate, a broad band on the back being very conspicuous ; 

 the tail is short. The legs of a young bird examined were dark 

 slate in front and pale horn behind ; the irides were dark 

 brown. Length, 6 ins. Wing, 2'35 ins. Tarsus, 75 in. 



Family PARID.-E. Titmice. 



Great Titmouse. Pams major Linn. 



The resident and non-migratory British Great Titmouse, 

 P. in. neivtoni Praz. (Plate 57), is generally distributed in 



