176 THE TITS 



BRITISH COAL-TIT [Parus ater britannicus Sharpe and Dresser. 

 Coalhood, little blackcap, ground-tit. French, mesange noire; German, 

 Tannenmeise ; Italian, cincia mord]. 



1. Description. The coal-tit may be recognised at once by its black head and 

 throat and the large white patch on the back of the neck and side of the head. The 

 sexes are alike. (PI. 63.) Length 4'25 in. [107 mm.]. The black of the head, throat, 

 and fore-neck has a metallic blue sheen, the effect of which is heightened by the 

 large patch of white which extends from the nape backwards to the base of the neck, 

 and the equally conspicuous white patch which covers the whole side of the head, 

 and the side of the neck. The mantle is olive-grey, with a tinge of rufous on the 

 rump. Wings like the mantle ; but the median and major coverts have white tips 

 forming a double wing-bar. The secondaries have narrow, dull white outer margins, 

 the innermost white tips. The breast and abdomen are of a dull white, the flanks 

 a bright rufous buff. The female is slightly duller than the male. The juvenile 

 plumage differs from that of the adult in that the black areas are of dull slaty black 

 hue, while the white of the hind-neck, the sides of the head and neck, and of the 

 breast is replaced by pale surphur-yellow. [w. p. p.] 



2. Distribution. The British race of this species is confined to the British 

 Isles, and it is fairly general throughout Great Britain, but is rare in Caithness. 

 It also inhabits Skye and the wooded islands of the Inner Hebrides, and occurs 

 in the Isle of Man, while in Ireland it has been found breeding in every county. It 

 shows a strong predilection for coniferous woods, and has apparently increased its 

 range with the growth of plantations. [F. c. R. J.] 



3. Migration. Resident within our area, but performing local movements 

 of considerable but unknown extent on the approach of winter. On Heligoland the 

 Continental coal-tit occurs as a very uncommon migrant (cf. Gatke, Vogelwarte 

 Helgoland, Eng. trans., 1895, p. 414), but there is no evidence of overseas migration 

 of this race to or from the British Isles. A coal-tit was obtained on the Isle of 

 May (Firth of Forth) on 1st October 1908 (cf. Baxter and Rintoul, Annals of Scot. 

 Nat. Hist., 1909, p. 12) and two on the Bass Rock on 28th September 1908 (cf. 

 Evans, torn, cit., p. 49) : the first belonged to the British race, but the Bass Rock 

 examples were undetermined. [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Nesting-place : as a rule low down in an old stump, 

 or in a hole in a hedge bottom or wall. Occasionally it has bred in the foundation 

 of an old magpie's or squirrel's nest, and once at least in an old thrush's nest. Gener- 



