MARSH TIT. 449 



of branches, ten inches distant ; at the base of the upper of 

 which, between the roots of two of the branches, is a small 

 hole, passing directly downwards into a roundish cavity four 

 inches in depth, and nearly two in breadth. In the bottom of 

 this hole it would appear the birds had at first intended to 

 form their nest, there being in it a quantity of fragments of 

 the decayed wood, and some moss. From this cavity there 

 passes obliquely downwards a passage communicating with an- 

 other five and a half inches in length, and two and a half in 

 breadth, on the opposite side of the trunk. To the depth of an 

 inch the bottom is filled with dust of the decayed wood, over 

 which is laid a mass, three quarters of an inch thick, of small 

 chips of wood, bits of blades and straws, a vast quantity of 

 brown scales of buds or catkins, intermixed with vegetable 

 fibres of various kinds, hair of various animals, a little wool, 

 and a few particles of moss, forming a very soft elastic bed. 



Young. — The young when fledged, differ from the adult 

 only in having the tints duller, the upper parts more tinged 

 with green, and the black of the head approaching to a sooty- 

 brown ; the bill is black ; the iris dusky brown ; the feet light 

 blue ; the claws dusky greyish-blue. The upper part of the 

 head and the nape dull brownish-black ; throat blackish-brown, 

 the feathers tipped with yellowish-grey. The back is light 

 greyish-brown ; the quills and tail dusky, the feathers margined 

 with greyish-brown ; the cheeks, sides of the head, and all the 

 lower parts dull pale yellowish-grey. 



Remarks. — I have carefully compared specimens shot in 

 France with those in my collection obtained in Scotland, and 

 am persuaded they are identical. 



VOL. II. G G 



