276 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



the mother bird flew up and escorted her child, encour- 

 aging him as she did so. I removed a third youngster, 

 but with no better results ; and now the two remaining 

 members of the family emerged from their nest of their own 

 accord and took short, feeble flights, barely rising above 

 the surface of the heather. At first they were unable to 

 rise sufTiciently to settle on the pine branches, but it was 

 instructive to notice how with every flight their wing- 

 power strengthened, until it was not always easy to dis- 

 tinguish them from the parent bird, who escorted them on 

 each of their excursions. Even after the last of her brood 

 had left the nest she did not seem altogether to realise that 

 this was the case, and several times alighted on the dead 

 tree, looking down towards the empty nest with her bill full 

 of food. In the young birds the crest was showing, though 

 it was not so prominent as that of their mother, and their 

 black collars were also noticeable. I examined the nest, 

 and found that it was built almost entirely of deer's hair 

 and rabbit down, the moss, if any had originally been 

 present, having dried up and being invisible as one looked 

 down from above. 



The sun shone warmly among the pines as I took my 

 leave of the Crested Tit family, and I left them with the 

 hope that things would prosper with them, and that the 

 marauding Kestrel would not pass again that way. 



Description. — The male and female Crested Titmouse 

 differ only slightly from each other, and there is no sea- 

 sonal change of coloration. 



Length, 4*5 inches. In the middle the crown feathers 

 are elongated and tipped with white, forming the con- 

 spicuous crest which can to a certain extent be lowered 

 or raised at will. The forehead, the sides of the head, and 

 neck are white. A black line runs backwards from the 

 eye and downwards, partly encircling the ear coverts. 

 A second black band runs from the nape downward, and 



