GREAT-TIT, BLUE-TIT, COAL-TIT, MARSH-TIT 



When thus courted, the hen bird as a role goes quietly on with 

 her < MTU | >:it ini i. tapping the Imrk with her bill in search of larvae, or 

 split ting an acorn with the utmost unconcern ; scarcely glancing aside 

 even if a second suitor appears, and a more or less deadly contest 

 fmimm Probably, however, preliminaries have already been settled 

 between the pair, even to the r Inuring of a fresh home, or the spring- 

 cleaning of the old one. The absolute certainty with which you may 

 calculate on a pair of tits returning to the same nesting-site year after 

 year inclines me to believe they pair for life, as perhaps do many other 

 species. The great, blue, marsh, and coal-tits all nest in holes ; as is the 

 case with so many birds where the sexes are alike in colour. Great 

 and blue-tits are as ubiquitous in their choice of a nesting-site as is 

 the robin. They will utilise a hole in any convenient place whether 

 tree, pump, axle-wheel, wall, letter-box, or one of those "desirable 

 residences" now so universally provided for them, in the shape ot 

 nesting-boxes. 



Coal-tits prefer holes in banks and walls, or in old tree-stumps 

 rather low down ; marsh-tits have a partiality for old pollard-willows 

 by the water's side ; but apple-trees are also frequently chosen. Both 

 these species occasionally take kindly to nesting-boxes. 



The great-tit often uses an immense amount of material in the 

 construction of its nest Some years ago I found one in the drawer 

 of a derelict milk-separator. The actual cup-shaped nest itself 

 occupied one corner only ; but the entire drawer, measuring eighteen 

 inches by ten, and about three deep, was filled with a carefully felted 

 mass of wool, moss, leaves, horse-hair and feathers. I have found 

 this to be more or less the case with nests of this species found 

 in stone walls. All the available space will be occupied with material 

 tidily disposed around, and continuous with the cup of the nest itself, 

 which is usually lined with horse-hair. 



The blue-tit makes a slighter nest, in which feathers are more 

 largely used than is the case with the great-tit The coal-tit, in 

 addition to the usual moss, wool, and hair, is very fond of a lining of 



