454 THE CRESTED TIT. 



species, although plentiful in many localities, is not so generally 

 distributed as those already described. "With us they frequent 

 mostly low tracta of swampy land, marshes, and moist meadows, 

 where there are plenty of old willows and alders, and low thickets, 

 amid which they love to breed and nestle, visiting occasionally 

 orchards, and gardens, and cultivated tracts, in search of insect 

 food. These birds, like the other members of the Tit family, re- 

 main in this country throughout the year ; they are active and 

 sprightly birds, constantly flitting from place to place, feeding on 

 insects in their various stages, not excepting bees, and occasionally 

 on seeds, being very partial to those of the sunflower and thistle. 

 SELBY says that they will eat stale flesh. Their call note is a 

 single sharp chirp, like that of the other Tits, from which their 

 voice is only to be distinguished, says YARRELL, when they put 

 forth a rapid succession of notes, more remarkable for chattering 

 gaiety than quality of tone. MONTAGUE states, that he has seen 

 this bird excavating the decayed part of the willow, carrying the 

 chips in its bill to some distance, always working downwards, and 

 making the bottom, for the reception of the nest, larger than the 

 entrance. The nest, according to this authority, is composed of 

 moss and thistledown ; sometimes a little wool ; and lined with the 

 down of the thistle. 



TAMEABLE ONLY WHEN YOUNG. 



177. THE CRESTED TIT. 

 Pants Cristatw, LIN. Mesange Huppee, BUF. Die Haubenmeise, BECH. 



Description. This bird, which is about the size of the fore- 

 going, is four inches and a half in length, of which the tail 

 measures one inch and one-third. The beak is four lines long, 

 and black ; the feet lead-coloured, and seven lines in height. 

 The head is surmounted by a pointed crest, almost one inch in 

 height, which consists of black feathers, edged with white, and 

 of progressively greater lengths. The forehead is mottled with 

 black and white ; the cheeks are light grey, edged with black 

 below and behind. A broad reddish- white stripe runs from 

 the corner of the beak to the nape of the neck ; the throat is 

 black, and the neck surrounded by a black collar. The back 

 is reddish grey ; the breast and belly whitish ; the sides in- 

 clining to red ; the wings and tail greyish brown. The female 

 may be distinguished from the male, by the fact that its crest 

 is not so high, nor the black of the throat so bright. 



