MARSH TITMOUSE. 87 



breadth. Incubation, performed by both sexes, lasts 

 from thirteen to fourteen days. 



Diagnostic characters : The large size and bold- 

 ness of the markings on the eggs of the Crested Tit- 

 mouse are to a certain extent aids to their identification. 

 They however require careful verification. The precise 

 locality is of some service, whilst the conspicuous crests 

 of the parent birds cannot be mistaken. 



Family PARID.5. Genus Tarus. 



Sub-family PARIN^E. 



M A R S H TITMOUSE. 



Parus palustris, Linnmis, and Parus palustris 

 DRESSERi, Stejneger. 



Double Brooded. Laying season, April to June. 



British breeding area : The Marsh Titmouse is 

 somewhat locally distributed throughout England and 

 Wales, and becomes even more so in Scotland, where 

 it is not known to breed north of the Forth Valley. 

 Its breeding range in Ireland requires definition. 



Breeding habits : The breeding-grounds of the 

 Marsh Titmouse are woods, marshy plantations, or- 

 chards, hedgerows, and the fringes of alders and pollard 

 willows on the banks of canals and slew-running rivers. 

 Its trivial name, to the uninitiated, implies a swampy 

 habitat, but such is not the case, and this species may 

 be met with in most localities tenanted by birds of the 

 present family. The Marsh Titmouse probably pairs 

 for life, and in some cases, at all events, returns year by 

 year to one particular spot to nest. The nest of the 

 Marsh Titmouse is seldom made more than five or six 

 feet from the ground, and is often not many inches above 



