300 BRITAIN'S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 



THE BLUE TIT 



(Parus c£eruleus). 



Plate 108. 



The Blue Tit is the most generally distributed member 

 of the group in the British Isles, and is one of the most 

 familiar of our native birds. It is rather local in the 

 extreme north of Scotland, and absent from the more 

 outlying islands ; otherwise it is abundant throughout the 

 area in all suitable places. A considerable amount of 

 autumnal immigration takes place on our eastern sea- 

 board ; but the species is, like its allies, mainly resident. 



The bright blue in the plumage is very noticeable, and 

 the dark streak through the eye is a ready guide to 

 identification. Altogether it is a fine, handsome little 

 bird, and quite unmistakable. In habits it resembles 

 the other Tits already described. 



A hole in a wall or tree is the usual nesting situation, 

 but all sorts of sites are on record. Sometimes these 

 strike us as very comical and absurd ; but we must 

 remember that however incongruous a nest in a letter- 

 box or lamp seems to us, from the bird's point of view 

 such a place may be eminently suitable for the purpose. 

 The human use of the place obviously cannot enter into 

 its calculations. As such ' unusual ' sites are all, more 

 or less, artificial counterparts of the normal, natural site, 

 they are more curious than interesting. 



The nest proper consists of moss, wool, hair, feathers, 

 kc. The eggs are of the usual type, but the spots are 

 noticeably small. The clutch numbers seven or eight as 

 a rule ; the much larger clutches sometimes found are 



