marsii-tit. 
PAWS PALUSTRIS. 
It is, in my opinion, extremely doubM why acquainted with the true 
species. Possibly those who gave i m ^ ^ ^ ^ may at times be f„ un d frequenting plantations 
habits of the bird. Small parties ’ . f f a ammg the hushes in marshy localities ; 
r ? - — T «- «- * 
the rush-grown Myites of the fen-eountry or among the reed-beds of the broad-districts of the eastern counties, 
where, during autumn and winter, numbers of Blue Tits may constantly be observed. To mention the 
localities they mostly affect is almost impossible; it is hard to describe a spot where a small party might not 
be met with. I have watched them working their way through the fir-woods m wild and uncultivated tracts 
of country, and equally at home while pecking about among the grimy litter and stunted bushes of gardens in 
close proximity to smoky towns. I noticed in the east of Sussex that these birds appear to prefer plantations 
of moderate-sized undergrowth, where the larger timber consists oi oak. 
During autumn and winter Marsh-Tits may usually he found in small flocks of six or eight individuals, 
these parties probably being composed of a pair of old birds with their brood of the previous summer. 
Insects furnish the greater part of their diet. At times they may he driven to subsist on seeds ; but flics 
of various kinds, spiders, and other minute insects, together with small caterpillars, are without doubt their 
favourite food. 
The nest is occasionally found in holes in trees or hanks. One was pointed out to me some years ago 
in a small cavity in a grass-park, that must originally have been either a mouse-hole or a bees’ nest. The eggs, 
like those of the rest of the Titmouse family, are, when first laid, of a beautiful palc-piuk tinge, with red-brown 
spots. As soon as incubation commences the beauty of the shell disappears, the general colour becoming a 
dirty white, and eventually a livid hue. 
I have observed this species more numerous in Sussex than in any other county ; they arc, however, to 
be noticed in most parts of England that I have visited. In Scotland they arc decidedly less plentiful. A 
few may occasionally be met with in the Lothians ; but, with the exception of a few stragglers in the 
neighbourhood of Duukeld and near Perth, I have observed none that could be positively identified in the 
Highlands. In Strathspey and in the cast of Ross-sliire I have carefully examined the flocks of Coal Tits that 
frequent the large fir-woods in those districts, hut could never with certainty pick out a single specimen of 
Farm palustris. 
