528 PASSERINES. 



even carnivorous, for it has been known to kill weak or sickly 

 birds in order to devour them. Some species have a most un- 

 natural partiality for grease, and devour it whenever opportunity 

 offers. They are sociable birds, inhabiting thickets or woods, 

 living in flocks the greater part of the year, and showing ^strong 

 attachment to each other, so that a flock of them will suffer them- 

 selves to be decimated, and even altogether destroyed, rather than 

 desert a wounded companion. In the spring they pair, and each 

 isolated couple now seek out a suitable place in which they may 

 rear their future progeny. 



The position of the nest varies with the species. The Great 

 Tit, or Oxeye (Parus major, Selborne), builds in the hole of 

 some wall, or in a cavity formed in a decayed tree. It is usually 

 composed of moss, hair, and feathers. The Blue Tit (P. cceruleus, 

 Selborne) occasionally builds its nest in very insecure places. 

 Mr. Duncan, one of Mr. McGillivray's correspondents, in a MS. 

 note now before us, says, " In the year 1836 I discovered the nest 

 of a pair of Blue Tits in the shaft of a pump well, which was 

 drenched and partly carried away every time water was drawn ; 

 still they persevered in building. Gladly would I have left them 

 there, but they kept the water in a continually muddy state, and 

 their removal became absolutely necessary." The Coal Tit (P. 

 ater, Selborne) chooses the crevice of a wall or decayed tree. 

 So does the Marsh Tit (P. palustris, Selborne). The Crested 

 Tit (P. cristatus, Selborne), Fig. 238, is a retiring, solitary 

 little bird, provided with plumage both brilliant and beautifully 

 blended. They are rarely seen in England, but several flocks 

 are recorded as appearing in Scotland. They are said to breed 

 annually in plantations near Glasgow, in the forest of Glenmore, 

 and near the Spey two were killed in 1836. In the North of 

 Ireland, in autumn, they are not uncommon wherever plantations 

 of larch trees are to be found. Their nest, according to Temminck, 

 occurs in holes of trees, the oak being preferred, in rocks, or in a 

 deserted Crow's or Squirrel's nest. 



The nest of the Long-tailed Tit, or Mufflin (P. caudatus), 

 is, perhaps, the most skilful specimen of construction. It is 

 oval in form, and has two openings, one for entrance, the other 

 for exit an arrangement which the long tail of the bird renders 



