BLUE TITMOUSE. 113 



another heavy migration took place in 1889 ; and on 14th 

 September 1901, there was a great arrival at Redcar, where 

 I have noticed it in most seasons in autumn, though not in 

 such abundance as in 1878. 



The Migration Reports contain entries from Spurn, 

 Flamborough, Whitby, and Teesmouth, relating to its 

 occurrence in October, while in the Report for 1883 (p. 40) 

 one is noted as having struck the glass at Flamborough 

 Lighthouse on April 3rd. 



Inland the Blue Tit has been seen settled on such unusual 

 places as house tops in the centre of large towns during the 

 early mornings in October, which is significant of its being 

 newly arrived, and at this period it may also be frequently 

 observed in the trees right in the heart of our busiest towns. 



This species is classed by fruit-growers among the 

 " undesirables " in a garden at the time of harvest, and 

 the damage caused by it, particularly to the best varieties 

 of pears, is too often beyond computation. Mr. F. Boyes 

 bears eloquent testimony to the destruction wrought by these 

 little creatures to the choicest kinds of pears in his garden 

 at Beverley, and the same observer, so long ago as 1877, 

 records the propensity of this bird for feeding on Indian corn 

 in a similar manner to the Marsh Tit, described by the late 

 James Carter under the heading of the latter species. (See 

 Zool. 1875, p. 4298.) 



The peculiar situations chosen for nesting purposes have 

 brought this bird into prominence in this respect, beyond 

 any other British species ; a hole in a tree trunk or branch 

 is the most usual site, but often they make use of holes in 

 walls, railings, or gate-posts, street lamps, pumps, and letter- 

 boxes, and the newspapers every year contain paragraphs 

 recording " Tom Tits " nesting in these odd places. At 

 Gunnergate, near Middlesbrough, a Blue Tit laid nine eggs in a 

 Blackbird's nest placed high up in a spruce fir, in May 1901 ; 

 the Blackbird's eggs had been taken a week or two previously, 

 and the Tits had lined the nest with wool and hair before 

 laying. At Kirkleatham, near Redcar, a nest was foimd 

 in 1902 containing twenty-four eggs, and in this instance 



VOL. I. I 



