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NOTES ON THE BREEDING OF THE GREAT TIT 

 (PARUS MAJOR, Linn.). 



By C. Kingsley Siddall. 



The usual time for the breeding of the Great Tit is from the 

 middle of April onwards. The pair under notice commenced to 

 build on the last day of April in a box which had been placed 

 for the purpose in an apple-tree. 



The nest was a typical one, composed of moss and a good 

 deal of red wool which had evidently been torn from an old mat. 

 It was warmly lined with wool and hair. Both birds took part 

 in building, and finished the nest on May 4th. The first egg 

 was laid on May 5th, and on the 12th the female began to sit on 

 a clutch of seven. She sat extremely closely, and often refused 

 to move when the box was opened. This was done very fre- 

 quently, in the hope of finding the male bird sitting. He was 

 never discovered doing so, and, indeed, visited the nest seldom in 

 the daytime during incubation, though he always roosted in the 

 box at night. He was not observed to carry food to the sitting 

 female during this period. 



Some days before the young were hatched, a camera was 

 placed in position, with the result that the Great Tits became 

 accustomed to the sight of it, and photography (with a twenty- 

 foot shutter release) became a fairly easy matter. A hiding- 

 place was arranged, eighteen feet from the camera, from which 

 the exposures could be controlled, and with a pair of binoculars 

 any known species of larvae could be readily recognized when the 

 parents came to the nest. 



On May 24th seven young birds were safely hatched ; in 

 appearance excessively ugly, the only covering on their other- 

 wise naked skins being a suspicion of down on their skulls and 

 shoulders. The legs and claws looked much too strong for the 

 rest of their bodies. 



On the fourth day there was down on the dorsal tract, and 

 signs on the wings of the coming pen-feathers. On the sixth 

 day the bluish tinge was noticeable. The tail-feathers could not 



