PARUS ATER. 
Coal Tit. 
Pams ater, Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 341. 
atricapillus, Briss. Orn., tom. iii. p. 651. 
carhmarius, Pall. Zoogr., tom. i. p. 656. 
Poscile ater, Kaup, Naturl. Syst., p. 114. 
I CANNOT agree with some of my contemporaries when they state that this bird is less numerous in the 
British Islands than the Marsh- or Blue Tits ; for my own experience tells me that it is certainly more 
abundant than the former, if not as numerous as the latter. Mr. Rodd states that it is common in the 
woods of Cornwall, particularly in those of the eastern parts of that county. Mr. Selby informs us that it is 
abundant in all the pine-forests of Scotland. Thompson, in his ‘ Birds of Ireland,’ speaks of its universal 
distribution over that island ; and I may affirm from my own observation, that in England it matters little 
what localities are visited, or what situations are rambled over, whether it be the wood, the coppice, or the 
shrubbery, there will the bird he found. Everywhere, however, it evinces a preference for extensive woods 
of beech and oak, to the topmost outlying branches of which trees it habitually resorts, and there displays its 
graceful actions, flitting or fluttering from spray to spray, peering beneath the leaves, and clinging in many 
elegant positions to the very extremities of the tender shoots — the ornamental patch of white on its poll 
offering a conspicuous contrast to the black of the head and neck. Its every movement is in accordance 
with those of the other members of the genus, and it is as graceful in all its actions as in its disposition it is 
pert and lively. 
On the continent of Europe, all the countries, from the Mediterranean to Sweden and Norway, may include 
it in their avi-fauna. It certainly proceeds as far east as the Crimea ; and Pennant states that it is found in 
Siberia, which is very probable, as Captain Blakiston has just brought a bird from Northern Japan, which 
exhibits no perceptible specific differences ; strange to say, however, we have no positive evidence that it 
has ever been found in the Himalayas or in the peninsula of India. As the Blue Tit (^Parus cceruleus') has a 
representative in North Africa in the P. ultramarmus, so has the present species in the P. Ledoucii ; these 
representative species, which live between the great Atlas ranges and the sea, are very interesting. It will 
be found that the young of the P. ater has yellow cheeks and nape, and that this colour is also slightly 
suffused over the abdomen ; in the P. Ledoucii this colouring is characteristic of the adults : and thus the 
young of one species closely assimilates to the old of the other ; no ornithologist will, however, doubt the 
specific distinctness of P. ater and P. Ledoucii. 
There is no perceptible difference in the colouring of the sexes ; but they are subject to a slight seasonal 
change, the colours in summer and winter not being alike. In January the back is olive ; in June it is bluish 
grey, and the general hues of the plumage are much darker than in winter. Some difference occurs between 
specimens from Germany and those killed in the British Islands ; the birds from the former country, and 
probably those from all other parts of the Continent, are of larger size and more finely coloured than our own. 
In winter the food of the Coal Tit consists of insects of various kinds in every stage of their existence, 
from the larva to the imago state ; in summer, flies, aphides, even caterpillars, &c., to which are added small 
seeds, berries, and the kernels of such stone fruits as it can open with its little conical bill. The young, 
during the time they are in the nest, are fed entirely upon insects ; after they are able to fly and gain their 
own livelihood, they capture them for themselves, and, as may be readily supposed, a brood of eight or ten 
of these prying and active little creatures must devour many thousands every hour while such feasting lasts : 
in winter, their insect food is sought for in the curled-up leaves, the crevices of the bark of trees, and similar 
situations ; spiders, in particular, fall a prey to the Coal Tit at this season. 
A more than usually severe winter is likely to drive the bird to more southern climes : but this remark 
applies to the Continental individuals rather than to our own ; for, however severe the winter may be, the 
bird in this country holds its own. 
A nest taken at Formosa in Berkshire, on the 21st of May, 1860, was singularly thick and compact, mea- 
suring at least an inch and a half through. Tlie materials of which it was composed did not present the 
usual layered appearance, but seemed to he thoroughly matted or felted together ; the body of the nest was 
mainly constructed of wool, cows’ hair, and a few downy feathers ; the outside was thinly coated with dried 
moss. 
Another nest taken on the 17th of May, 1861, from a summerhouse in the same garden, presented a 
similar felted appearance, the various materials of moss, fine hair, and wool being all mixed together into a 
