The Cole Titmouse. 



353 



The hen lays, twice a year, from six to eight eggs, which are 

 whitish in colour, and spotted with pale red ; she incubates 

 about thirteen or fourteen days. The young leave the nest when 

 about three weeks old, or a little more, but the parents continue 

 to associate with their offspring, who never go far away from 

 their birthplace. 



Methods of Captuee. — Cole Tits may be taken, during 

 stormy weather, by means of a decoy bird ; one of its own 

 species, or a Redpoll, will be found best suited for this purpose. 

 Clear a piece of ground in a garden or orchard which these 

 birds frequent, bait with mealworms, or pieces of beef suet, 

 shred fine, and then place limed twigs around. They are 

 sometimes caught by tying a piece of suet to a clothes pole, 

 and surrounding the top of it with limed sticks. 



Food and Treatment. — In a wild state, these birds subsist 

 on small insects, and their eggs and larvae, and on a variety 

 of wild seeds, more particularly those of the pine and fir ; 

 hence, they are most frequently found in the neighbourhood of 

 pine and fir woods. They will eat beech mast, and most kinds 

 of nuts and their kernels. 



When kept in confinement, they may be fed on mealworms 

 and milk and bread, or on a mixture of shredded suet and 

 breadcrumbs, mixed with crushed hemp, lin, or maw seed. 

 They will, when thoroughly acclimatised, and accustomed to the 

 aviary, eat any of the Compounds prescribed and recommended 

 for soft-billed birds on pages 189 and 190. 



Eearing the Young. — When intended to be hand-reared, the 

 young should be removed from the care of their parents at the 

 age of ten or twelve days. Feed with milk and bread, alter- 

 nated with a little beef suet, shred very fine, and mixed with 

 scalded bread and oatmeal in equal quantities ; feed every hour,, 

 from early morn to 7 p.m. A few ants' eggs should occasionally 

 be mixed with the food. When six weeks old, they may be- 

 given the food recommended for adult birds. Always moisten 

 their throats after feeding with a few drops of water. They 

 require to be kept very warm, as they are very delicate, and 

 dijSicult to rear. The young birds greatly resemble their 

 mothers when in their nest plumage. 



Distinguishing Marks of Cock and Hen. — The male bird 

 is more pert and energetic in his actions, and is blacker on the 

 head, wings, and tail, and whiter on the cheeks and breast, than, 



2 A 



