d by the celebrated Col. Montagu, who “had seen it excavating the

although it had been previously notice
decayed part of the willow, carrying the chips in

its bill to some distance, always working downwards,
aking the bottom for the reception of the nest larger than the entrance, and the nest composed of moss

making ‘

and thistle-down, sometimes a little w | . |
The eves, before being blown, have a delicate fleshy tinge, produced by the colouring of the yelk showing

y 55>? 5 j : - a ee a
ent shell, and are very finely marked with reddish-brown specks, which are thickest at
> ~/ J

ool, and lined with the down of the thistle.”

through the transpar ;
the larger end ; when blown, the ground-colour is opake white. .

The food of the Marsh-Tit consists of insects and their larvee, to which small berries and fruits are added
in due season; and it is said that it will peck at the flesh of a dead animal.

«© A snowberry tree (Symphoria racemosa) in my garden,” wnat Mr. Stevenson, oars) negplanly stripped
every year of its pretty white fruit by a pair of these birds, who stick their bills into the side of the berries
and canny them off on their beaks to another tree, as a Hooded Crow makes off with an egg. ‘The berry is
then divided down the middle, the two little kidney-shaped seeds extracted, and the husk dropped to the
ground. Until I observed the whole process myself on one occasion, I was quite at a loss to account for the
diminution of berries on one tree and the collection of opened skins at the foot of another.”

Its note is louder and stronger than that of the Coal Tit. One of its notes appeared to me like “ chipper,

chipper ;” Morris describes it as “ chee-chee, chee-chee;”” Macgillivray as ‘‘ chica-chica-chee ;”. and Meyer as

)

“ teit, (eit, dea-dee” and “ witgee” uttered many times in succession.

Macgillivray’s description of this bird is so accurate that I cannot, perhaps, do better than transcribe it
here :—

“The Marsh-Tit is considerably larger than the Coal Tit, from which, although very similar in colour, it
is readily distinguishable by the dull or brownish black colour of the head and the want of the white patch
so conspicuous on the nape of that species. The bill is very similar to that of the last species. The tarsi
are of moderate length, stout, with eight distinct scutella, the hind claw very strong, and the anterior toes
much larger than those of the Coal Tit. The plumage is blended, very soft and tufty, the feathers much
elongated on the hind part of the back. The wings are semiovate, convex, rounded, and of moderate length ;
the tail is rather long, slender, a little emarginate, as well as rounded, the feathers pointed.

‘The bill is black ; the iris dark brown ; the feet and claws livid blue; the upper part of the head and
the hind part of the neck are black, with a tinge of brown; the cheeks and sides of the neck greyish white ;
the back, scapulars, and upper tail-coverts greyish brown, with a tinge of green; the quills, ein coverts,
and the tail-feathers dark brownish grey, margined with yellowish grey, the secondary quills with yellowish
brown, the outer tail-feathers having their outer webs paler. The throat and foreneck are greyish black,
the feathers tipped with greyish white ; the rest of the lower parts brownish white, with a Shae

“The female differs from the male only in having the colours somewhat duller |
which are more tinged with brown.”

of yellow.
, especially the black tints,

: :
he figures are of the natural size, on a branch of the Birch.