THE MARSH TITMOUSE. 103 



of the Tits, the general impression being that they 

 merely enlarge holes where the rottenness of the 

 wood admits of their removing particles, and that 

 they do not actually make the holes. Upon this 

 point, however, a good observer, the late Mr. J. D. 

 Salmon, wrote as follows : " I am perfectly satisfied 

 that the Marsh Tit does occasionally excavate a 

 situation for its nest, having in several instances 

 found it in a decayed willow-tree, which, from the 

 fresh appearance of the cavity, must have been done 

 by the bird. In all the cases that have come under 

 my observation the wood has been in that stage 

 denominated ' touchwood.' I have never found the 

 nest of this species on the ground, but always at an 

 elevation of a few feet, and in a decayed tree. I 

 cannot help suspecting that the nests of the Marsh 

 and Coal Tits are often taken for each other." 



Doubtless this is so ; but we can state from 

 personal experience that a favourite site for a nest 

 with both these birds is a moss-grown hollow stump 

 near the ground, in which situation we have re- 

 peatedly found it. On one occasion we discovered 

 the nest of a Marsh Tit in a crevice in the ground, 

 which had apparently been previously occupied by 



