122 YELLOW-BREASTED BIRDS. 



the autumn and winter months Cirl-Buntings band 

 together in small flocks in the stubble lands. 



YELLOWHAMMER— 6^ inches ; lower back rich chestnut, 

 conspicuous daring fliglit ; lacks the black eye-band and 

 black chin of the Cirl. 



BLUE TITMOUSE.— Plate 54. Length, 4,h inches. 

 Crown blue ; sides of head white, divided by a blue- 

 black stripe across the eye, and enclosed by a heavier 

 dark band looped from the nape to the dark chin ; 

 hind-head and nape blue, with indistinct gray patch 

 on nape ; back olive-green ; wings and tail blue ; 

 under parts bright yellow, with a blue streak run- 

 ning down the centre of the breast. Resident. 



Eggs. — 7-8, or more, white, spotted minutely all 

 over with reddish-brown, but principally at the larger 

 end; '58 x -45 inch (plate 126). 



Nest. — Of moss, wool, feathers, and hair, placed in 

 holes in walls and in holes in trees, and in many other 

 cavities, natural or artificial, provided with a suitably 

 small entrance. 



Distribution.— General. 



The Blue Tit, or Tom-Tit, is a very brightly 

 coloured bird, much smaller than the Great Tit, and 

 of a chubbier build than the Coal-Tit or Marsh-Tit. 

 The dark stripe passing through ilie eye and dividing 

 the white face into an upper and lower section at once 

 catches the eye. No other Tit has anything resem- 

 bling it, unless it be tlie Crested Titmouse, a rare and 

 very loc£|,l bird lin^ited to certain tracts of pine woods 



