THE MARSH TITMOUSE. 



of the species in Norfolk, apparently occasioned by 

 migratory arrivals, whose departure was again 

 noticed in the following March. 



Its ordinary cry, says Macgillivray, is a shrill 

 u cheep," but it also emits a variety of chattering 

 notes, and in spring has a kind of song, which may 

 be expressed by the syllables chicka, chicka, chee. 

 Towards the end of that season the little flocks 

 disperse, separate from the individuals of the other 

 species with which they have associated in winter, 

 and betake themselves to .the dense woods, or the 

 marshy wooded borders of streams and pools, the 

 chief attraction to which seems to be the decayed 

 willows, of which the crevices afford an abundant 

 supply of insect food. 



The nest is usually placed in the hole of a tree, 

 which the bird sometimes enlarges for this purpose. 

 Montagu observed a Marsh Tit excavating the 

 decayed part of a willow, carrying the chips in its 

 bill to some distance, always working downwards, 

 and making the bottom for the reception of the nest 

 larger than the entrance. 



The materials of which the nest is composed 

 vary according to circumstances, but generally con- 



