compact mass. This nest contained ten eggs, which, berore being blown, were of a dull pale salmon-tmt,
somewhat thickly sprinkled towards the larger end, and more sparingly over the remainder of the surface,
with light fleshy brown. These eggs were destitute o f the beautiful transparent pinky hue seen in the eggs
of the other British Tits.
Forehead, crown, sides of the nape, chin, and throat deep steely black; cheeks, ear-coverts, sides o f the
neck, and centre o f the nape white; back and shoulders bluish grey, passing into pale buff on the lower part of
the hack and upper tail-coverts; wings slaty grey, the coverts tipped with white, forming two hands across the
wing: primaries narrowly edged with light green, and the secondaries more broadly margined with pale or
greyish white; tail brownish g rey ; breast dull white; flanks, abdomen, and under tail-roverts pale brownish
fawn-colour; irides blackish brown; bill b lack ; legs, toes, and claws bluish lead-colour.
In the young the general arrangement o f the colours is the same; hut 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 b lu e ; irides b lack ; eyelashes a shade lighter; culmen o f the
upper and the middle o f the lower mandible olivaceous black; the remainder o f the bill and the fleshy gape
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.