NUTHATCH 39 
yellow under-parts. Cheeks white. Throat blue-black. White 
wing bar. Black stripe running backward and forward from 
the eye corners. 
Nest. Place: a hole in a tree or elsewhere. Material: moss 
and dry grass lined with hair, wool, and feathers. 
Eggs. Usually 7-12. White speckled reddish-brown. Some- 
times unspotted. Av. size, °60x°46in. Laying begins April- 
May. Usually one brood. 
74. Crested-tit [Parus cristatus scotieus (Prazak)|]. The 
British subspecies is rarely found outside the Spey valley in 
Scotland. 
Bird. Length 43 in. Recognised by the crest: the long 
black, white-tipped feathers of the crown. The male has the 
sides of the head white enclosing a black more or less semi- 
circular band. The lower side of the white area is bordered 
with a black band which passes into the black throat. Back, 
wings, and tail mostly brown or grey. Breast and belly white. 
Flanks buff. The female has the crest shorter and is duller hued. 
Nest. Place: hole or crevice, usually of a decayed pine-tree. 
Material: moss, lined usually with hair and fur. 
Eggs. Usually 5-6, White, boldly marked chestnut-red. Av. 
size, ‘63x°49 in. Laying begins April-May. One brood 
usual, 
(14) Family: Sittide—Nuthatches 
75. Nuthatch [Sitta europea britannica Hartert; Sitta 
cesia Wolf]. More or less stationary in the woodland districts 
of Great Britain, but rare on the western side, and to the 
north of Cheshire and Yorks. 
Bird. Length 53 in. Easily distinguished from all 
British tree-creeping species, and indeed all 
other British species by its shape (see picture), 
the blue-grey upper-parts, the rich rufous- 
buff on the under-parts, and the short tail. 
The throat and the sides of the head are white, 
this area being bordered above by a black band 
running from the corners of each eye back- 
ward and forward. The flanks are chestnut- re 
red. The outer tail-feathers are patched with begs: 
white. Y atyy 2s 
Nest. Place: hole or crevice, usually in Wz 
a tree. When too large, the entrance is Fig. 43 
plastered round till the hole is just large 
enough to admit the bird. The lining is composed generally 
of dry leaves or shredded fir-bark, also dry grass. 
Eggs. Usually 5-8. White, spotted and blotched with red- 
