440 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



The female is similar in appearance to the male. 

 The bird may be easily distinguished from the Coal 

 Tit by its having no white on the back of the 

 head and neck or wing-coverts. 



Situation and Locality. Holes in trees, pre- 

 ferably pollards, gate-posts, walls, and banks, at no 

 great height from the ground. Instances are on 

 record of rabbit-burrows and rat-holes doing duty as 

 nesting sites. In orchards, woods, by the side of 

 sluggish rivers, and in hedgerows of cultivated 

 districts. It is met with in most parts of England 

 suitable to its habits. Scotland and Ireland can 

 both claim it, but it is somewhat scarce, especially 

 in the northern parts of both countries. 



Materials. Moss and fine dried grass, lined 

 with wool, feathers, hair, rabbits' down, ripe 

 catkins of the willow, the whole being compactly 

 knitted together, and tightly wedged into the 

 situation chosen for their reception. 



Eggs. Six to ten, white, spotted with reddish- 

 brown, more thickly at the larger end. The spots 

 are variable in size, number, and distribution. They 

 very closely resemble those of the Tree Creeper, Blue 

 Tit, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, and Great Tit, although, 

 as a rule, they are somewhat smaller than the last. 

 Size about .63 by .49 in. (See Plate III.) 

 Time. April, May, and June. 

 Remarks. Resident. Notes : call, chee-chee or 

 peh, peh, uttered quickly, and several times in 

 succession, and a kind of whistle, made use of 

 only in the spring, according to Montagu. Local 

 and other names : Black Cap, Little Black-headed 

 Tomtit, Willow Biter, Coalhead. Sits closely, and 

 hisses and bites when disturbed. 



