THE COLE TIT. 449 



Breeding. The Cole Tit builds its nest of moss, lined with 

 hair and fur, in a deserted mole-hill, or mouse-hole ; sometimes 

 under the overhanging edge of an old wheel rut, and occasion- 

 ally in a crevice of a tree or wall. It lays, twice a year, six or 

 seven white eggs, spotted with light red. The young birds 

 resemble their parents, except that the black is paler. 



Diseases. The commonest disease among the Cole Tits is 

 decline, which may sometimes be prevented by giving them 

 fresh ants' eggs, especially at the period of moulting. I once 

 kept one six years, which was allowed to run about the room ; 

 it became at last giddy and blind, and died of old age. 



Mode of Taking. This bird may be caught like the last 

 mentioned; but being less shy,. an even easier method is often 

 available. A limed twig is tied upon a pole, with which it is 

 frequently possible to touch and catch the bird as it is perched 

 upon the tree. Its call is Tzvp-toen ! Like most Tits, it is a 

 delicate bird, and often dies before inured to the food of the 

 aviary. 



Attractive Qualities. It is an engaging and amusing bird, 

 always in motion ; bold, lively, never ceasing to hop and flut- 

 ter. Its song is a number of harsh, ringing, unconnected 

 notes, relieved by a clear, sonorous, Tzifi, tzifi ! repeated twenty 

 times in succession. 



ADDITIONAL. The Cole Tit, Coal Titmouse. This bird is the 

 smallest British species of the genus ; in form, as well as in colour, 

 it is very similar to its congeners, from which, however, the 

 practical ornithologist may readily distinguish it. In most, if 

 not all the counties of England, it is permanently resident, and, 

 according-to THOMPSON, is generally distributed over Ireland ; 

 while MACGILLIVKAY includes it among the birds found in the 

 neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and SELBY says that it is common, 

 and even abundant, in the woods and pine forests of the north. 

 NEVILLE WOOD observes, that " the Cole Tit is said not to be so 

 plentiful in England as the Blue and Marsh Tits ; but in Derby- 

 shire I think it is at least as common. While the Marsh Tit is 

 busy exploring the low, swampy, reedy grounds, the present 

 species remains in the dry upland districts, exhibiting, at the 

 same time, that partiality to thick woods and copses, which is 

 observable throughout the genus. In these upland districts al- 

 most any thick wood will suit it, but I have ever observed the 

 oak to be its favourite tree. Either in plantations of young oaks, 

 or among isolated trees of a larger growth, it is almost sure to 



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