30 THE LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE 



its presence to quick ears, and more like that of an insect than a 

 bird. In spring and summer it sings regularly, beginning about 

 the middle of March, and continuing till the end of July. 



The nest of the golden-crested wren is a very neat and elegant 

 structure, usually placed on the underside of a fir-tree branch, some- 

 times open at the top, and at others covered with a dome, and has 

 an opening on one side. The eggs are nine or ten in number, small 

 round, and reddish-white in colour. In plumage, the golden-crested 

 wren is a beautiful mixture of green and yellow, with white bars 

 on the wings, and on its head the golden crest, bordered with .black, 

 from which it takes its name. 



FIRE-CRESTED WREN (Regulus ignicapillus) , a closely allied 

 species to the golden-crested wren, is nearly 4 in. in length, 

 and has a crest of a bright-red colour. It is of similar habits to 

 the golden-crested wren, frequenting fir plantations and woods, 

 also pleasure grounds and fruit plantations in autumn and winter, 

 prying in thickets closely for food eggs, larvae, pupae, and adult 

 insects. 



The LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE (Parus caudatus or Acredula rosea), 

 Fig. 26, left-hand figure, is common in the south and south-western 

 counties of England, but not so common in the north. It is about 

 4j inches long, and usually builds a very elaborate nest, shaped 

 like a bottle, in thick bushes or dense shrubs, and has a tiny hole 

 in the upper part of the side. The eggs vary in number from ten 

 to sixteen, very small and very delicately spotted. The head, 

 breast, and neck of the long-tailed titmouse are whitish with black 

 bands or stripes. The back is black, and the wings and very long 

 tail are black, edged with white. In habits the long-tailed tits 

 are gregarious, very active on trees in woods, pleasure grounds 

 and fruit plantations, their food consisting of insects their eggs, 

 larvae, chrysalis or pupae, we having known them to clear a large 

 plantation of black currant bushes of black aphides. The annual 

 consumption of each of these birds has been estimated by Brocchi 

 at nearly 200,000 insects in the form of eggs and larvae, and remarks 

 that when they attack the buds of fruit trees, an offence with which 

 they are sometimes charged, it is certain that there are insects 

 within these buds. 



The COLE TITMOUSE (Parus ater) is rather more than 4 in. 

 long, bluish-grey with a dull white breast, large white patch on 

 the neck and white spots on the wings. It usually makes its nest 

 in holes in trees and stumps of trees, but sometimes nests in banks, 

 taking advantage of burrows or holes made by rabbits or other 

 animals. In habits the cole-tits are semi-gregarious, frequenting 

 fir or pine plantations and woods, and feeds upon insects their 

 young entirely fed with larvae or caterpillars ; and in winter they 

 pry into every crevice and fold of the bark of bushes and trees in 

 search of eggs, hibernating larvae, pupae, or perfect insects, even 



