152 The Coal-Tit. 



patches yellower. The yoiing are more olivaceous above, and the white patches 

 are suffused with sulphur-yellow. 



Fortuuately this extremely charming species is becoming much more common 

 than it formerl}' was, in our islands ; so that it is no unusual occurrence, in the 

 autumn, to see a family sporting about among the trees of our suburban gardens; 

 young Coal-Tits are wonderfully confiding ; so much so that, in the autumn of 

 1895, I was able to stand under an Acacia in my garden, and watch these pretty 

 little birds going through their acrobatic performances, within two or three feet 

 of my head ; indeed, one or two of them, growing bolder as I remained quietly 

 observing them, descended to a slender branch within a foot, and peered down 

 and chattered at me in a most knowing manner — " ick-hecc, ick-heec" is what they 

 seemed to say; but, to me, this appeared to mean "IfVio are you?'' Probably 

 the same words, differently accented, represent a language intelligible to birds; for 

 even we can sometimes comprehend its meaning ; as, for instance, when a Canary 

 asks for fresh seed, or for some daint}-, the pleading tone is distinctly apparent. 



The favourite haunts of this species are plantations, copses, thickets, and 

 shrubberies, especially near open common or moorland ; no tree or evergreen 

 escapes its minute examination when in search of insect food ; though perhaps 

 the conifers form its favourite hunting-grounds. Its principal breeding-grounds 

 are said to be birch, pine, and fir plantations, and alder swamps ; but all the nests 

 which I have met witli have been either in hollow orchard-trees or behind ivy- 

 grown trellis-work on summer-houses, or garden walls. The site for the nest is 

 usuall}^ in a hole in the trunk of a tree, or in a stump in a hedge, but it has 

 been found in a hole in the earth among the roots of a felled tree-trunk, and 

 Lord Lilford states that most of the nests which he has examined were placed 

 underground in the burrows of rabbits, moles, or mice. 



The nest consists chiefly of a thick but loose lining to the selected cavity, 

 sometimes covering only the bottom of the hole, sometimes the sides also ; and 

 when more or less exposed behind trellis-work, over-arched, with the entrance in 

 front: I have not taken enough nests of this species to be sure of the number of 

 a full clutch of eggs; but, as different authorities mention the numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, 

 and 9, I strongly suspect that the full number is either eight or ten, though 

 rarely the latter : many nests are undoubtedly taken by egg-collectors before the 

 completion of the clutch, and I have taken nine young birds and an addled egg 

 from the same nest. 



The materials of the nest consist of moss, wool, or hair, with a thick inner 

 lining of feathers. 



The eggs are somewhat elongated ovals, sometimes with the two ends alike. 



