118 OUR RARER BRITISH BREEDING BIRDS. 



back to it, and noted the exact situation. It 

 was placed practically upon the ground, in a 

 tussock of coarse herbage. The exterior consisted 

 of blades of sedge, and the interior was lined 

 with fine grass and seed down. The eggs were 

 apparently quite fresh, and taking all their 

 characteristics into consideration, it would have 

 been difficult to confuse them with those of any 

 other species. 



The male Bearded Tit makes a really model 

 husband. He helps to incubate the eggs, and 

 does his share, if not more, in feeding the chicks ; 

 and it is a genuine treat to see him hanging up- 

 side down, carefully examining the water-level of 

 a reed stern for insects, or swinging to and fro 

 in the wind, with his legs wide apart and his 

 feet firmly grasping two divergent reeds. 



The first two things that strike the observer 

 are the unlikeness of the bird in every respect to 

 the Tit family, and the suitableness of its local 

 name of Reed Pheasant. 



TIT, COLE. 



THE Cole Tit is one of our commonest birds, 

 although not such a garden-loving, suet-grubbing 

 creature in the winter time as its congeners the 

 Great and Blue Tits. 



In some districts, both in England and Scotland, 

 I have found it breeding in greater numbers than 

 even the Blue Tit. It makes its nest in holes in 

 old walls and decayed trees, often within a few 

 inches of the ground; and even in the tunnels of 

 rats, voles, and mice, it is said, although I never 



