TITMICE. 



501 



drawn ; still they persevered in building. Gladly would I have left 

 them there, but they kept the water in a continually muddy state, 

 and their removal became absolutely necessary." The Coal Tit (P. 

 ater) chooses the crevice of a wall or decayed tree. So dees the 

 Marsh Tit (P. palustris). The Crested Tit (P. cristatus, Fig. 218) is a 

 retiring little bird, provided with plumage both brilliant and beauti- 

 fully blended. They are rarely seen except in the north of 

 England, but several flocks are recorded as appearing in Scotland. 

 They are said to breed annually in plantations near Glasgow, in the 



Fhe Crested Tit. 



forest of Glenmore ; and near the Spey two were killed in 1836. 

 Some years later, at Whitefield, near Wigton, Cumberland, we found 

 them quite abundant in a plantation bordering a small rivulet. In 

 the north of Ireland, in autumn, they are not uncommon wherever 

 plantations of larch trees are to be found. Their nests, according to 

 Temminck, occur in holes of trees — the oak being preferred — in rocks, 

 or in a deserted crow's or squirrel's nest. 



The nest of the Long-tailed Tit (Parus caudatus) is, perhaps, the 

 most skilful specimen of construction. It is oval in form, and has 

 two openings, one for entrance, the other for exit, an arrangement 

 which the long tail of the bird renders necessary. This singular bird 

 — the most diminutive of our birds except the Kinglets — differs from 



