BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 39 
this species waits at the bee-skeps and murders the bees as 
they make their entry and exit. 
Holes in walls and in trees are utilized for the nest, and 
Mr. Hay Borthwick writes me, in June, 1908, from Billholm 
(Langholm) : "A Greater Blackcap has nested in our 
letter box, and is now sitting on eleven eggs." 
It must be pointed out here that the local names of 
" Greater Blackcap " and " Blackcap," applied to this 
species, are apt to lead to confusion with Sylvia atricapilla, 
(See p. 21.) 
The British Great Titmouse has been separated from its 
continental representatives chiefly on account of its stouter 
bill and duller coloration, and it appears to be the only form 
found in our county. 
THE BRITISH COAL-TITMOUSE. 
Parus ater hritannicus, Sharpe and Dresser. 
Local name — Blackcap. 
A resident throughout the county. 
Sir WilHam Jardine writing of the Coal-Titmouse in 1839 
says : " This little species we think to be the most abundant, 
and one which, in winter at least, is seen in greater 
profusion in the south of Scotland than any of the rest of 
the tribe. Ten or twelve years since it was by no means 
common, and its frequency now may be accounted for by 
the increasing age of the plantations, and by the immense 
quantity of wood which has been lately planted, and which 
is now rapidly advancing to maturity."* 
Commenting on the above Mr. R. Service says, in 1900 : 
"Nowadays, and for many years past, Coal-Tits, though 
common enough, cannot be considered ' the most abundant 
* Nat. Lib., 1839, Vol. XI., p. 172. 
