152 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 



feet leaden grey; iris hazel. The female is duller in colour, the white patches 

 yellower. The young are more olivaceous above, and the white patches are suffused 

 with sulphur-yellow. 



Fortunately this extremely charming species is becoming much more common 

 than it formerly was, in our islands; so that it is no unusual occurrence, in the 

 autumn, to see a family sporting about among the trees of our suburban gardens ; 

 young Coal-Tits are wonderfully confiding; so much so that, in the autumn 

 of 1895, I was able to stand under an Acacia in my garden, and watch these 

 pretty little birds going through their acrobatic performances, within two or three 

 feet of my head ; indeed, one or two of them, growing bolder as I remained quietly 

 observing them, descended to a slender branch within a foot, and peered down 

 and chattered at me in a most knowing manner — '' ick-heec, ick-heec'' is what they 

 seemed to say; but, to me, this appeared to mean " Who are you?'' Probably 

 the same words, differently accented, represent a language intelligible to birds ; for 

 even we can sometimes comprehend its meaning ; as, for instance, when a Canary 

 asks for fresh seed, or for some dainty, the pleading tone is distinctly apparent. 



The favourite haunts of this species are plantations, copses, thickets, and shrub- 

 beries, especially near open common or moorland ; no tree or evergreen escapes its 

 minute examination when in search of insect food ; though perhaps the conifers 

 form its favourite hunting-grounds. Its principal breeding-grounds are said to be 

 birch, pine, and fir-plantations, and alder-swamps ; but all the nests which I have 

 met with have been either in hollow orchard-trees or behind ivy-grown trellis-work 

 on summer-houses, or garden walls. The site for the nest is usually in a hole in 

 the trunk of a tree, or in a stump in a hedge, but it has been found in a hole 

 in the earth among the roots of a felled tree-trunk, and Lord Lilford states that 

 most of the nests which he has examined were placed underground in the burrows 

 of rabbits, moles, or mice. 



The nest consists chiefly of a thick but loose lining to the selected cavity, 

 sometimes covering only the bottom of the hole, sometimes the sides also ; and, 

 when more or less exposed behind trellis-work, over-arched, with the entrance in 

 front : I have not taken enough nests of this species to be sure of the number of 

 a full clutch of eggs; but, as different authorities mention the numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, 

 and 9, I strongly suspect that the full number is either eight or ten, though rarely 

 the latter : many nests are undoubtedly taken by egg- collectors before the comple- 

 tion of the clutch, and I have taken nine young birds and an addled ^'g^ from 

 the same nest. 



The materials of the nest consist of moss, wool, or hair, with a thick inner 

 lining of feathers. 



