A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 
28. Whiteheaded Long-tailed Tit. Acredula 
caudata (Linn.). 
A rare visitant. The late Mr. Tom 
Duckworth, a veteran naturalist, observed 
three examples of this species in company 
with about nine of the common long-tailed 
tits in a lane between Orton and Thruston- 
field, November 26th, 1891. The morning 
was bright and frosty ; the light was excellent. 
He at once reported the matter to me, and 
~ instantly recognized a continental skin as agree- 
ing precisely with the three specimens which 
he had met with. 
29. British Long-tailed Tit. 
(Blyth). 
Locally, Bobble-Tit. 
This tit is a fairly common bird in the 
wooded districts, but is seldom or never seen 
in the neighbourhood of the coast. It is very 
partial to thickets at the edge of small streams, 
probably owing to the abundance of insect 
food to be obtained in such situations, 
30. Great Tit. Parus major, Linn. 
Locally, Blackcap, Bee-Eater. 
A resident in our gardens and orchards, of 
frequent occurrence all over the county. 
Some years ago a great tit paired with a blue 
tit and the couple nested at Crookhurst, near 
Allonby. They were closely watched by 
Mr. Mann, who recollects that eggs were duly 
laid, but it is not known whether any hybrids 
were reared from this rare union. I hesitated 
to record so singular a circumstance in print 
until my friend Count Arrigoni degli Oddi 
showed me a painting of a hybrid between 
these two species which he obtained in Italy, 
and now retains in his fine collection. 
31. British Coal-Tit. 
Sharpe and Dresser. 
A common resident in our fir plantations, 
abundant in the woods round Keswick and 
Penrith ; but virtually absent from treeless 
wastes, 
32. Marsh-Tit. Parus palustris, Linn. 
A resident but very local species, not un- 
common in the centre and south of the county, 
and becomes more scarce in the west and 
north. 
33. Blue Tit. Parus ceruleus, Linn. 
Locally, Bluecap, Tomatty Ta. 
A resident of general distribution, singularly 
constant to its breeding sites. A letter-box at 
Carlisle was continuously occupied by a pair 
of blue tits for more than thirty years. A 
curious yellow and blue variety was shot at 
Cotehill by Mr. W. Little, December 25th, 
1888. 
Acredula rosea 
Parus britannicus, 
34. Nuthatch. Sitta cesia, Wolf. 
A rare visitant. In 1782, a pair of nut- 
hatches were shot at Armathwaite on May 
11th, and sent to Dr. Heysham. In 1848, 
Mr. T. C. Heysham was informed by a 
Penrith birdstuffer named Turner that the 
nuthatch was common about Lowther, and 
had occurred in this county on the banks of 
the Eamont. The nuthatch has been re- 
ported to me from the south of the county in 
recent years ; but I have neither observed the 
species, nor handled a local specimen. 
35. Wren. Troglodytes parvulus, Koch. 
Locally, Chitty. 
A numerous resident ; but the individuals 
which frequent the creeks of the salt marshes 
in autumn are probably immigrants. A very 
pretty nestling was brought to me in the flesh 
a few years ago. It had been picked up dead 
in a wood near Penrith, and was of a uniform 
pale primrose yellow. 
36. Tree-Creeper. Certhia famiharis, Linn. 
A resident, perhaps less migratory than any 
other of our small birds, and common in the 
wooded dales, It is not confined, however, to 
dense forest. Mr. R. H. Thompson showed 
me a stone wall on his property near Nunwick 
in which a‘pair of creepers nested and reared 
their young in the summer of 1891. 
37. Pied Wagtail. Motacilla lugubris, Tem- 
minck. 
Locally, Waterty Wagtail, Grey Hemplin 
(Bewcastle). 
A partial resident; but chiefly a summer 
migrant, returning in March, when male birds 
in lovely spring dress scatter themselves over 
our fell-sides, as I have observed in many wild 
districts. ‘The most curious nesting place 
occupied by this species known to me was the 
grease-box of an old railway waggon. Many 
flocks of pied wagtails pass through the county 
in autumn, adults and young birds often 
journeying in company. 
38. White Wagtail. Aotacilla alba, Linn. 
A spring immigrant, passing through the 
county on the way to more northern breeding 
grounds. Mr. T. C. Heysham first detected 
the presence of this bird in the county in 
April, 1842, and since then it has been ob- 
served on many occasions, especially in the 
north of the county. I believe that on one 
occasion a bird of this species paired with a 
pied wagtail; the birds in question nested 
near Cummersdale. Such individuals as visit 
us in April, rarely prolong their stay with us 
for more than a few days. In the spring of 
1899, a small flock of white wagtails visited 
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