12 The Wilson Bulletin — No 58. 



been my favorite among the German titmice. It reminds one 

 of our American Chickadee in coloration as well as in habits. 

 Both belong to the same subgenus. This is the jolliest and 

 quickest of the German tits. From early morning to the fall 

 of night it is constantly on the go, and the woods ring with the 

 call note — 'sia.' Its love plays arc similar to those of the Tree 

 Pipit (All thus trwialisj described in the Wilson Bulletin for 

 March, 1903. 



It loves to select a sleeping hole to spend the night in. Dur- 

 ing the summer of 1890 one always slept in a knothole in our 

 rustic bowling alley, and neither the rimible of the balls, the 

 cracking of the pins, nor the talking and laughing of the 

 crowd, nor even the fact that I often caught her in my hands, 

 caused her to leave her favorite abode. She became perfectly 

 fearless of our presence. 



The food of this tit consists of insects, .and of seeds, 

 principally the seeds of the sunflower in the fall. 



The hollow tops and holes in old willows are preferred to 

 any other places in which to deposit the eggs. Such holes are 

 generally filled out with moss, dry grass, and hair, but I have 

 found them placed on the chips or sawdust without any nesting 

 material whatever. From five to ten eggs are laid, which 

 measure 15 by 12 millimeters. Wm. Baer, in his 'Ornis der 

 preussischen Oberlausitz,' page 32, mentions my finding three 

 eggs of the subspecies iiicridionalis snbpalustris, which is cor- 

 rect, as I caught the bird on the eggs on May 3, 1891 ; but he 

 does not mention my set of five eggs taken on April 22, 1890, 

 which at the time he referred to the same subspecies. The 

 former was given to a friend, but the latter is still in my 

 possession. The subspecific distinctions in the case of the 

 Marsh Tit are of more value than most subspecies, for if all 

 observations prove true their life histories, call notes, etc., are" 

 different. 



Taken all together the family Parid?e contains most charm- 

 ing and interesting birds which are well worth being intro- 

 duced into this country where they would likely form a most 

 desirable and profitable acquisition. 



