compact mass. This nest contained ten eggs, which, before being blown, were of a dull pale salmon-tint, 
somewhat thickly sprinkled towards the larger end, and more sparingly over the remainder of the surface, 
with light fleshy brown. These eggs were destitute of the beautiful transparent pinky hue seen m the eggs 
of the other British Tits. 
Forehead, crown, sides of the nape, chin, and throat deep steely black ; cheeks, ear-coverts, sides of the 
neck, and centre of the nape white ; hack and shoulders bluish grey, passing into pale huff on the lower part of 
the back and upper tail-coverts ; wings slaty grey, the coverts tipped with white, forming two bands across the 
wing ; primaries narrowly edged with light green, and the secondaries more broadly margined with pale or 
greyish white ; tail brownish grey ; breast dull white ; flanks, abdomen, and under tail-coverts pale brownish 
fawn-colour ; irides blackish brown ; hill black ; legs, toes, and claws bluish lead-colour. 
In the young the general arrangement of the colours is the same ; but the cheeks are yellow instead of 
white, and the nuchal mark is yellowish white ; the tips of the greater wing-coverts and secondaries are 
greyish white, and the edges of the primaries and secondaries are stained with yellow ; the under surface is 
yellowish white, and the legs delicate purplish blue ; irides black ; eyelashes a shade lighter ; culmen of the 
upper and the middle of the lower mandible olivaceous black ; the remainder of the bill and the fleshy gaj)e 
rich gamboge-yellow ; inside of the mouth orange-yellow. 
The figures are of the natural size, on a branch of the Beech, as it appears in the early part of April. 
