MARSH TITMOUSE. 57 
then augmented by immigrants from other parts of the 
country. 
In autumn, the Coal Titmouse, like its congeners, 
feeds on the fallen nuts beneath the beeches, but, so 
far as we have observed, is alone in the habit of 
plucking the ripe fruit from the trees. The birds do 
not eat the mast in the tree-tops, but fly with it to the 
ground, often thirty yards or more from the tree, and 
there extract the kernel. 
MARSH TITMOUSE. 
PARUS PALUSTRIS, Linnzus. 
As a general rule, the Marsh Titmouse, although a 
resident, is less plentiful in Cheshire than the Coal 
Titmouse. Like that species, it is met with most 
frequently during the winter months. 
Flocks consisting solely of Marsh Tits are often seen ; 
and although the bird does associate with other species, 
it is on the whole less sociable than its congeners. 
The nest is generally built in a hole in a tree or 
rotten stump, but we have found it placed on the 
earth beneath tree-roots in a hedgebank. When the 
birds hack out a nesting-hole in dead wood, they 
usually carry away the chips and drop them from the 
branches of neighbouring trees and bushes. This act 
of concealment, however, is not always thorough, for 
we have seen a considerable litter lying below the 
nesting-hole from which the birds were busily engaged 
in removing the chips in large mouthfuls. 
At Ince this bird has been observed feeding on the 
American blight. 
1 Dobie, op. cit. p. 292. 
