io 4 SKETCHES OF BIRD LIFE. 



bees ; and Mr. Gurney has known the nest of the 

 bird to be placed in a rat's hole, burrowed down 

 into a closely-mown lawn. It is thus evident that 

 there is some diversity in the site selected by this 

 species for nidification. 



Though commonly met with in such situations 

 as we have described, the Marsh Tit may also be 

 observed at times in fir plantations, gardens, and 

 orchards, where in autumn it feeds on various seeds. 

 Mr. Stevenson has remarked that it is particularly 

 partial to the seeds of the snowberry shrub, Sympho- 

 ria racemosa. He writes : " Before I had dis- 

 covered the actual depredators I had often observed 

 that the berries on these shrubs in my garden 

 disappeared very rapidly, and, moreover, that the 

 berries themselves were strewed about under the 

 neighbouring trees. I was quite at a loss to account 

 for this until one morning I observed a Marsh Tit- 

 mouse flying across the grass-plot with a white ball 

 almost as big as his head on the point of his bill. 

 He looked so oddly at the moment, I could scarcely 

 at first sight determine either the bird or its burthen, 

 but as soon as he alighted on an opposite tree he 

 gave a little wrench with his beak, and dropping the 



