THE ORNITHOLOGICAL GUIDE. 95 



which our eloquent and observant author describes 

 as follows : — 



Order III, Genus XII, Tit. 



Species V, Blue Tit. 



Plate CXXI. 



Parus cseraleus. Lin. Si/st. r. I, p. 341. 



Mesange bleue. Bris. Om. v. Ill, p. 544. 



" This species is somewhat larger than the pre- 

 ceding [the Marsh Tit.] The bill is short and 

 blackish ; the crown of the head blue : the forehead 

 and side of the head white, the latter bounded 

 underneath by a black line : a black line also passes 

 from the bill through the eye : the back is of a 

 yellowish green : the under parts of the body yel- 

 low : the wings and tail blue ; the former marked 

 transversely with a white bar; the legs lead color. 



" This bird is very common, and frequently seen 

 in our orchards and gardens, busily employed in 

 picking off the buds from the trees in search of 

 insects. It makes its nest in the holes of walls or 

 trees, lining it with feathers, and laying a number 

 of white eggs faintly spotted with red, sometimes 

 as far as twelve." 



Could not "upwards of twenty years laborious 

 application," and " original observation of the 

 author and his sons," and a reference to " the best 

 writers on the subject," furnish a more full and 

 detailed accoimt of the merry little flutterer of 

 the blue coat and yellow waistcoat. ?" Only com- 

 pare this with the valuable descriptions of Mudie, 



