96 BRITISH BI1WS 



Marsh-Titmouse. 



Parus palustris. 



Forehead, crown, head, and nape black ; upper parts grey ; 

 wings dark grey, lighter at the edges ; cheeks, throat, and breast 

 dull white. Length, four inches and a half. 



It is curious that, of the seven species of birds inhabiting this 

 country called titmice in the vernacular, six have been named from 

 some character that strikes the eye : greater size hi one, a peculiar 

 feather-ornament in two, and in the remaining species a distinctive 

 shape or colour ; and the names in all cases are suitable bearded, 

 long-tailed, great, blue, coal, and crested. In the one case where 

 this rule has been neglected the name is unsuitable and misleading. 

 The marsh-tit may be more partial to low or wet ground than the 

 blue tit, and oxeye, and coal- tit, but the bird is found everywhere in 

 woods, groves, hedgerows, orchards, and gardens and in autumn 

 and winter is seen associating with the other species in their wan- 

 dering bands. But it would have been difficult to name this species 

 from its colouring, which is more uniform and sober than in any of 

 the others. He is the plainest of them all, but in his lively, social 

 habits, and in his various pretty motions and attitudes, he is one of 

 the family ; and so strong in him is the family likeness, that some 

 find it not easy to distinguish marsh-tit from coal-tit, except when 

 seen closely. In its language, also, it is unmistakably a titmouse ; 

 but it is not so vociferous as the oxeye and blue tit, and its tinkering 

 voice is not so sharp and loud. 



The nest is placed in a rotten stump or trunk of a tree, an old 

 pollarded willow being a favourite site ; and sometimes the bird 

 excavates a hole for itself in the decayed wood. The nest is made 

 of moss and hair, felted together, and lined with willow down. The 

 eggs are five or six in number, and arc similar to those of the great 

 tit in colouring. 



The marsh- tit is common in England, rarer in Scotland, and 

 does not extend to Ireland. 



