no BLUE TITMOUSE. 



with the same pattern, but with bluish-slate backs, blue-black crown, 

 and more intense coloration. In Central Russia our Blue Titmouse 

 meets P. pleskii, a pale blue-backed form, with the belly pure white, 

 and only a pale yellow spot on the breast ; while in Siberia, Russia, 

 and Poland, and, as a wanderer, in Eastern Germany, we find the 

 larger and very beautiful Azure Titmouse, F. cyamis, in which pale 

 blue and white are the prevailing colours. I mention this bird 

 because live specimens are not unfrequently brought to England, 

 and, sooner or later, there will probably be an attempt to add it to 

 the British list. 



The Blue Titmouse makes its nest in April, and generally selects 

 a hole in a wall or a tree ; but, exceptionally, curious sites, too 

 numerous to mention, have been recorded. The bird defends its 

 dwelling with great pertinacity, hissing like a snake, and pecking at 

 the fingers of the intruder in a way which has gained for it the name 

 of " Billy-biter." The nest is composed of wool and moss, with 

 feathers and hair in varying proportions. The eggs, usually 7-8 

 (though as many as 18 are on record), are white, spotted with light 

 red — more minutely than those of our other Tits ; measurements 

 •58 by "45 in. This species and the Great Titmouse may be 

 encouraged to almost any extent by hanging up suitable nesting- 

 boxes. The young are fed largely with larv?e of the gooseberry- and 

 winter-moths. Aphides and other insects ; while the parents also 

 prey on the grubs of wood-boring beetles, the maggots from oak- 

 galls, spiders, &c. In summer and autumn the Blue Titmouse may 

 perhaps damage fruit to a small extent ; in winter a meat-bone hung 

 up will always prove an attraction. The note is a harsh chee, chee, 

 chee. 



Adult male : forehead, and a line which runs backward over each 

 eye and encircles the crown, white ; crown, cobalt-blue ; a blue-black 

 stripe runs through the eye to the nape, where it meets a dark blue 

 band which crosses the nape, encircles the white cheek.s, and joins 

 the bluish-black throat ; mantle and rump yellowish-green ; tail and 

 wings blue, the coverts and inner secondaries of the latter tipped 

 with white ; breast and abdomen sulphur-yellow, with a bluish-black 

 streak down the middle ; bill blackish ; legs and feet bluish-grey. 

 Length 4"3 in. ; wing to the tips of 3rd — 4th and longest quills 2 "4 in. 

 The female is somewhat duller in colour. The young exhibit less 

 blue and more yellow in their comparatively dingy plumage. 



