NESTING-SERIES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 159 
nine im number, are pale blue, with occasionally a few small spots of 
light red. 
Cumberland, June. 
Presented by the Rev. H. A. Macpherson. 
No. 63. GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. (Regulus cristatus.) 
This resident species is the smallest of our British birds, and gene- 
rally distributed throughout the islands wherever suitable plantations 
of larch and fir are to be found. During the periods of migration, 
immense flocks sometimes arrive on the east coast and spread across 
Great Britain to Ireland. The food consists of insects, for which the 
bird often searches in company with flocks of Tits and Creepers. The 
beautifully constructed nest of moss and lichens, felted together with 
wool and spiders’ webs and lined with feathers, is generally placed 
beneath the extremity of a branch of some evergreen tree, such as a fir, 
yew, or cedar. The eggs vary from five to ten in number, and are pale 
buff, minutely freckled with yellowish-brown. 
1. Nest and eggs in a Scotch fir-tree. Suffolk, May. 
Presented by T. Harcourt-Powell, Esq. 
9. Parent birds with nest and eggs in a spruce fir-tree. 
Norfolk, May. 
Presented by Lord Walsingham. 
No. 64. CRESTED TITMOUSE. (Parus cristatus.) 
Though common on the Continent, the Crested Titmouse is eX- 
tremely local in Great Britain, and only met with as a resident im 
the old pine-forests of Strathspey, in the north-east of Scotland. Like 
its allies, it feeds on insects and their larvee, as well as on seeds and 
berries. The nest, composed of moss, deer’s hair, and wool, is usually 
placed in a hole bored in the decayed stump of a tree, a few feet above 
the ground. The eggs, from five to eight in number, are white, boldly 
spotted or zoned with light red. Two broods are frequently produced 
im a season, 
Morayshire, May. 
Presented by Colonel L. H. Irby. 
No. 65. COMMON or GREY PARTRIDGE. 
(Perdix perdix.) 
This species is widely distributed throughout Great Britain, being 
especially abundant in the south-eastern counties of England. The 
