44 British Birds. 



nesting last summer (1897) in Froyle Park, in Hampshire, where my friend, 

 Captain Sawbridge, would on no account allow an}- oi the birds to be disturbed. The 

 Coal Tits were particularly tame, and I soon found their nesting-place m a tiny 

 hole in the wall which formed the terrace between the garden and the park. While 

 standing quite still under an elm tree, the little birds flew from the stable-yard into the 

 branches not two feet above my head, with a feather or some other nesting material 

 in their bill, and after making sure that all was safe, they descended, and hovered 

 in the air for a second or two in front of the hole, into which the_\- disappeared 

 with their prize. This was not the only pair of Coal Tits nesting m this same 

 old wall. The species also often selects a hole in a tree for its nest, and lays from 

 six to eight or nme eggs, white, with dots of light and dark rufous, generally 

 clustering round the larger end of the egg. 



The Europe.\n Coal Tit (Parus ater). Occasional individuals of the Continental 

 form appear to visit our eastern coasts in autumn. They may be recognised from 

 our British Coal Tit by their blue-grey back, and in winter plumage, when the olive- 

 brown back of the British form is very pronounced, the two races are recognised at a 

 glance, but in summer, when the olive-brown edges to the feathers of our British 

 bird become abraded, and the general aspect becomes grey, I admit that the two races 

 are difficult to distinguish. The European Coal Tit is found throughout Europe and 

 Northern Asia. Its habits are similar to those of our British Coal Tit. 



The exact range of the difterent species of Marsh Tits in the 



THF RRTTTSH 



Pahearctic Region, that is. in Europe and Northern Asia, is a very 



M\RSH-TIT 01 



„ * ' .' diiTicult problem to solve, and it is far from being settled at the 



{Parus drfssen.) ' ° 



present time. Compared with the Marsh-Tit of the Continent, the 

 true Parus pnliist/is, the British representative shews certain differences which point to 

 its recognition as a distinct insular form. It is a much darker bird, with a more 

 marked bufftsh-brown rump and browner flanks. Though generally considered to be a 

 marsh bird, from its popular name, our Marsh-Tit is by no means entirely a frequenter 

 of the willows and water meadows, but on the contrary, is found, in winter at least, 

 far away from such localities, in parks and woodlands, in company with companies of 

 •other Tits and kindred wanderers, feeding on insects, and even frequenting the 

 neighbourhood of houses. It is to be told by its brown back, glossy blue-black crown, 

 whitish face and under parts, isabelline-buff sides and flanks, and black throat. 



The nest is almost always in the hole of a tree, and sometimes the bird digs out 

 its own nesting-place, being armed with a powerful little pick-axe of a bill, like all 

 Tits, and knowing well where to attack a rotten part of a tree, generally a willow, 

 wherein to place its nest. The latter is rather more carefully built than is usual with 

 the Paiidii , and is made of moss and wool and hair. The eggs are from five to eight 

 in number, white, with rufous spots, either scattered all over the egg, or collected at 

 the larger end. 



The Continental Marsh-Tit [Pants sallcariiis). This is supposed to be a 



