142 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vii. 



On May 19th, 1913, Mr. P. C. Button found a nest-hole 

 of this species near Stone, Staffordshire, about three feet 

 from the ground, in a rotten stump in a clump of ever- 

 greens. This was close to the place where an exactly similar 

 nest was found by him in 1911, and as the two agreed in 

 every detail, the nests may safely be ascribed to the same 

 species, and probably to the same pair of birds. In 1913 

 the hen was sitting on a clutch of eight eggs, which were 

 much incubated, and the nest consisted simply of a shallow 

 cup of felted down mixed with a few small feathers and 

 fibres of rotten wood. The down used was apparently 

 that of the rabbit, but vegetable down was mixed with 

 it, and there was no foundation of moss whatever. The 

 nest-hole was neatly drilled out by the birds, and led into 

 a well-rounded cavity, which had evidently been recently 

 made. The hen-bird from this nest had the characteristic 

 dull, unglossed crown and was undoubtedly a Willow-Tit. 

 The nest of 1911 was in a rotten willow-stump, about two 

 feet from the ground, and contained nine hard-set eggs 

 on May 21st. The nest-hole, which was cut out by the 

 birds, was very neatly drilled, and was six inches deep. 

 There was no moss, and the whole of the felted lining of 

 rabbit-down only weighed as much as a sixpenny-piece. 

 The eggs were not heavily marked, and there were no chips 

 lying about. 



Mr. H. W. Williamson sends some notes on a nest of a 

 Willow-Tit, which was bored out in the stump of a storm- 

 snapped alder, about three inches in diameter, in a wood 

 in Kent. 



On May 7th the hole was about nine inches deep, and 

 on May 13th it contained four eggs, which were not covered 

 up. The nest was a slight structure of felted material 

 which looked like tow, and was probably composed of 

 down with a few small feathers. In this case also there 

 was no foundation of moss, the felted layer being only about 

 a quarter of an inch in depth and having no perceptible 

 hollow in the middle. The hen, in this case, was caught 

 on the nest and examined carefully before being liberated. 



In a fourth case, in which a nest was found at Willington, 

 South Derbyshire, by the Rev. W. M. Tomlinson, the nest 

 and site agreed with those already described except that 

 wood fibres and chips were present in greater quantities 

 and there were more feathers than in the Staffordshire 

 nests, but less down. The bird was not caught, but was 

 described as having a dull black head without gloss. The 



