PARUS ATER.
Coal Tit.

Parus ater, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 341.
— atricapillus, Briss. Orn., tom. iii. Oop

—— carbonarius, Pall. Zoogr., tom. i. p. 556.

Pecile ater, Kaup, Naturl. Syst., p. 114.

 

I cannor 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 be 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 ceruleus) has a
representative in North Africa in the P. w/tramarinus, 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. Tt will
be found that the young of the P. ater has yellow cheeks and nape, and that this colour is also slightly
suflused 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. Ledoucit.

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 dividuals 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. The materials of which it was composed did not present the
usual layered appearance, but seemed to be 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

NE aE

Slaw