A HISTORY OF WARWICKSHIRE 



29. Dipper. Cinclus aquaticus, Bechstein. 

 The occurrence of the dipper in Warwick- 

 shire can only be recorded for a few localities. 

 Nearly thirty years ago one which had been 

 shot in the Leam at Leamington came into 

 the hands of the present writer ; and he has 

 seen two or three others which were shot 

 in the brook which runs into the Avon at 

 Sherborne. More recently, though still but 

 rarely, dippers have been taken in the Alne 

 brook near Alcester. Some of these which 

 still retained some of the nesting feathers had 

 doubtless been bred there. Mr. Chase writ- 

 ing in 1886 speaks of the dipper as very rare 

 around Birmingham, but mentions the occur- 

 rence of one at Handsworth on 12 January, 

 1882. From Mr. Ground of Birmingham 

 the writer learns that a dipper was taken at 

 Hay Mill in the Birmingham district in the 

 winter of 1894-5. 



30. Long-tailed Tit. Acredula caudata (Linn.) 

 Formerly more abundant than at the present 



time, though still not rare. It is one of the 

 birds which if not protected will certainly 

 become scarce ; its conspicuous nest stands 

 small chance of escaping notice and de- 

 struction. 



31. Great Tit. Parus major , Linn. 

 There does not seem to be any fear of this 



bird becoming rare, for it is quite able to 

 take care of itself. A cocoanut broken in 

 half is a very great attraction in the winter 

 months to the great, blue and coal-tits, and 

 affords a good opportunity for observing their 

 habits. It will be seen that the great tit is 

 master and has first to be satisfied ; then 

 conies the blue tit, and finally the coal-tit, 

 the latter having to keep a sharp look-out 

 to snatch even a hasty meal when opportunity 

 serves. Both great and blue tits are very 

 quarrelsome little birds, but the coal-tit is 

 the reverse. The marsh-tit never comes to 

 feed on the cocoanut. 



32. Coal-Tit. Parus ater, Linn. 



It is rather remarkable that the nest of 

 this bird has not been observed in the counties 

 of Warwick and Worcester, nor in the ad- 

 joining part of Gloucestershire, though as a 

 species the bird is anything but rare in these 

 counties. It is probable that there are ar- 

 rivals in the autumn which remain through 

 the winter and depart in the spring. 



33. Marsh-Tit. Parus palustris, Linn. 

 Although as abundant as the coal-tit it is 



less frequently noticed, as it rarely comes near 

 dwelling houses but frequents coppices and 



brakes in small parties. It breeds, so far as 

 the present writer has observed, in holes in 

 trees, which it sometimes excavates for itself. 

 It rarely if ever makes use of a hole in 

 masonry for the nest. 



34. Blue Tit. Parus caruleus, Linn. 



The blue tit, locally known as the torn 

 tit, is a most courageous and impudent little 

 fellow who will enter outhouses and help 

 himself to anything which is to his taste. 

 He will visit the slaughter-house of the vil- 

 lage butcher and feed on any scraps of offal 

 meat which may be there ; and will literally 

 peel the inner surface of the skins of sheep 

 or other animals which have been hung on 

 the beams in the cart or cattle shed to dry. 

 But he also consumes an enormous number 

 of very small insects which he obtains by 

 laborious search in the branches of trees and 

 bushes. The nest is in any suitable hole 

 either in building or tree. 



35. Nuthatch. Sitta cauia, Wolf. 



A great frequenter of parks, orchards and 

 other places where there are aged trees, but 

 very rarely seen in growing woods or cop- 

 pices. In an orchard near the dwelling of 

 the present writer where a number of fowls 

 are daily fed with maize, it is no uncommon 

 thing to see a nuthatch carry off a large 

 grain and consume it at leisure in an apple 

 tree. Occasionally one of these birds will 

 come quite near the windows to feed upon 

 cocoanuts fixed up for the tits. 



36. Wren. Troglodytes parvulus, Koch. 

 This is one of the most prying of birds, 



often appearing in very odd places, almost 

 always however near the ground. In the 

 winter the hedger leaves behind him along 

 the hedgerow faggots of wood (locally termed 

 ' kids '), into which the wren very often 

 creeps, and the writer has seen one fly out 

 of a ' kid ' when it was on the fork to be 

 thrown on the wagon and taken to the 

 woodyard. The nest is constructed in a 

 great variety of situations, some of them very 

 remarkable. 



37. Tree-Creeper. Certhia familiaris t Linn. 

 This as a species is not by any means 



numerous ; indeed it might almost be said 

 to be uncommon. The best places to observe 

 its habits are in parks and orchards where there 

 are large or old trees ; but it has a habit of 

 passing round to the other side of a tree trunk 

 to avoid observation. It is only seen singly, 

 except in the breeding season. The nest 

 is rarely seen, but is always in some crack 



192 



