VOL. vn.] NOTES. 143 



amount of nest-material in this nest was very small and 

 there was no moss. 



A nest with five eggs found at Little Thurlow, Suffolk, 

 on June 8th, 1891, was conspicuous on account of the 

 clean-cut circular entrance. The opening descended almost 

 perpendicularly, and the nesting-chamber contained a 

 scanty lining of willow-down. Another nest found on May 

 9th, 1899, in Staffordshire, had a recently excavated circular 

 opening, and was about five feet from the ground in a pollarded 

 willow. A short passage led to the nest-hole, neatly chipped 

 out of the soft wood, and the nest was a pad of rabbit's 

 fur mixed with a few hairs and particles of rotten wood. 

 It contained eight fresh eggs, sparingly marked with small 

 reddish spots. The birds were not secured in either case, 

 but the characteristic notes of the Willow-Tit were heard 

 and noted. No chips were left about below the nest-hole. 



To summarize, it will be seen that in every case the nest 

 was extremely scanty, in fact little more than a layer of 

 down. In no case is moss mentioned as forming part of it, 

 although it is characteristic of the other Tit's nests. In the 

 case of the nest noted by Mr. Coward {antea, p. 116) the chips 

 were carefully removed, while the birds observed by Mr. Dixon 

 left them lying about, but in none of the other nests were 

 they noticeably present, so that it is clear that this character 

 is unreliable. In every case the whole of the nesting -chamber 

 and entrance appeared to have been excavated by the birds 

 themselves. The eggs found by Mr. Dixon were heavily 

 marked, but those taken by Mr. Dutton and myself are on 

 the other hand only lightly spotted, so that this character 

 is also apparently variable. 



The late Dr. 0. Ottosson informed me that in Sweden 

 the nest of the Northern Willow-Tit (P. atricapillus horealis) 

 could always be distinguished from that of the local race 

 of the Marsh-Tit by the fact that it consisted simply of 

 a slight pad of felted down, hair, etc., with no foundation 

 of moss, in a hole worked by the birds themselves. 



British Marsh-Tit [Parus palustris dresseri). 



On June 2nd, 1913, I examined a Marsh-Tit's nest at 

 Thorpe, Derbyshire, which contained well-grown young, 

 which were being fed by both parents with caterpillars. 

 It was placed in a natural hollow in an alder-stump in a 

 hedge-row, the entrance being directly above the nest. 

 The hole was not a large one, but there was a substantial 

 foundation of green moss, and on the top of this was the 



