PARIDJE. 129 



the eggs larger than the entrance.* The materials 

 made use of for the nest are moss, wool and grass, 

 and it is lined with thistle-down or the soft down of 

 the willow. 



The heak of the Marsh Tit is black ; irides dark 

 hazel; head and upper part of the nape black; back 

 and all the upper parts hair-brown, the quill-feathers 

 and tail being a little darker than the rest ; cheeks 

 dirty white; chin black; breast, belly and all the 

 under parts dull dirty white, tinged with brown, 

 especially on the flanks ; legs, toes and claws bluish 

 black. 



The egg of the Marsh Tit much resembles that of 

 the Blue Tit, namely, a sort of brick- dust-red spots 

 on a white ground, but it is rather larger and 

 rounder in form; but, as Montagu observes, the 

 eggs of all the Tits are much alike, and scarcely to 

 be distinguished : they also resemble those of the 

 Willow Wren, Wood Wren and Creeper : those of 

 the Nuthatch are veiy similar, but considerably 

 larger. 



LONGTATLED TIT, Parus cdudatus. This very 

 peculiar-looking little bird, by no means the least 

 common of the Tits, is resident with us throughout 

 the year. It may constantly be seen, either in 

 little flocks of its own species or mixed up with 

 others of its congeners, in almost all of our planta- 



* Montagu's Dictionary, by Newman. 



