180 THE TITS 



rufous, while the tail feathers become markedly shorter as they approach the 

 outermost members of the series, so that the tail, when partly closed, is conspicuously 

 rounded along its free edge, while in the marsh-tit the tail feathers are of equal 

 length, save the outermost, which is slightly shorter than the rest. [w. p. p.] 



2. Distribution. As it is only comparatively recently that the specific 

 distinctness of this species has been recognised, its distribution is still very im- 

 perfectly known. Willow-tits are found not only throughout the Palsearctic region, 

 but also in the Nearctic region. Our British local race is, like the British marsh-tit, 

 confined to Great Britain, and has now been found in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hants, 

 Wilts, Herts, Oxford, Berks, Middlesex, Bucks, Northants, Cambridge, Gloucester, 

 Suffolk, Lincoln, Stafford, and North Wales, while specimens have been obtained in 

 the Spey, Tweed, and Forth areas in Scotland, and recently in Renfrew and 

 Kirkcudbright, so that it seems possible that it entirely replaces the marsh-tit in 

 Scotland (H. F. Witherby, Br. Birds, iv. p. 284). [P. c. R. jr.] 



3. Migration. One authority states that it ' is evidently stationary all the 

 year round ' (Hartert, Brit. B., i. p. 215). We have really little definite information, 

 but it is probable that any state of affairs widely different from that which holds in 

 the case of the marsh-tit would have brought the present species earlier into evi- 

 dence. [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. The characters by which the nest of the willow-tit 

 may be distinguished from that of the marsh- tit appear to be as follows: The nest- 

 hole is generally excavated by the birds in soft and rotten wood, and ends in a nest 

 chamber, which is roughly spherical. Very little nesting material is used, merely 

 a few bits of fibre of decayed wood and some hair, while the chips are often left lying 

 below the hole, instead of being carefully removed. We have no information as to 

 the share of each parent in the work. Eggs 7 to 9 in number, white with red-brown 

 spots, which seem in some cases to be bolder and richer than the markings on 

 marsh-tits' eggs. Average size of 17 eggs, -60 x -49 in. [15-27 x 12-4 mm.]. Full 

 clutches may be found about May 10-16. The incubation period is probably about 

 13 days, and, as far as is known, one brood is reared. [F. c. R. J.] 



5. Food. Chiefly insects, as far as is known. The young are fed by both 

 parents, presumably on the same. [E. L. T.] 



6. Song Period. From January to April, and again from July to September 

 (British Birds, iv. 146, C. J. Alexander). [E. L. T.] 



