P tE C IL E BAMTSTiiUS
PCECILE PALUSTRIS .
Marsh-Tit.
Pants palustris, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 98.
atricapillus, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., ton» >. p. 1008.
— salicarins, Brehm, Vög.- Deutschl., tom. i. p. 4bh.
Peecile palustris, Kaup, Natürl. Syst., p. 114.
W h e t h e r it be or be not to the advancement o f onjitholngica! science that such minute differences as those
which are observable in the Marsh- and Coal Tits should b • indicated by a distinct generic appellation is
very questionable; certain it is, however, that those birds art now considered to be genetically distinct, the
term Postilé being assigned to the former, and th at o f Perm retained For the latter, in habits and general
economy the two birds are very similar ; hut a remarkable difference occurs in the cokturmg of their young,
immature birds of the Marsh-Tit and of all the other members o f the genus Pteeile asstttuing from the fir-t
the appearance o f the adult, while the cheeks of the youthful TiU of Pants ?hajw, P. ater, and P. cteruleus arc
strongly stained with yellow during the first month after they f vc left, the in--»?, in lien of the white seen
in the adult. This remarkable difference may nutJurr.c !*=: •- ■ M-, noticed; but tkai it really occurs
may be verified by any one willing to investigate :^w*r
The members o f the genus Pcecice have .1'wi.í- aud -»»■«»»—*• ‘L i f l B T T . the true Pari,
are less sprightly and active in their actV.«».' id i t , u * r : ' ?r»- n-. ^ ñti.s and
leaves in search of insects : a t leuvt arc ^ via.’ Marshaud
Coal Tits of our island.
The Ma rsh-Tit is w jf-’-urrbiv dispersed *-*■■ nd/rind lrt¡*Tinii?~i'ii 11 bi-' j, becomes
more scarce as w«> pp.itert into Seotkuei. -.j - T^jny Jjjpnd — *■ inn*-"—-^ die. border, and
altogether absent from some p&rtsr oí- tUe v-ct&l. 9 ■**. fL*f*rd in thejfir-wood» of
Morayshire in winter; ***** ««trir further nurll» tí JPtfrsUire ;
closely allied eongetftíf, fÍFLr "Cylit Tit, *lzry j»bu»tdant. ‘1‘llíl.ltS á cariotas case o f restricted distribution,
which it is difficult to connect with ;aa.y special conditions o f food or climate, In the neighbourhood of
London the Coal and Marsh Tits seem equally common: nor have I obaervad that, in England, marsh-lands
are at all peculiarly the habitat o f the Mnv*b*Tit. I may add that 1 have never observed the Marsh-Tit in
Scotland a t a ll; but my opportunities o f observation have been chiefly in the western counties. I t is
undoubtedly a rare bird in Scotland generally."
Several species o f the genus Pcecitc inbnhit Europe, and others America. Most o f them affect the
northern portions .of their respective continents; and hence it is that I am surprised to find that the
Marsh-Tit is comparatively rare in Scotland. On the continent it is very generally dispersed, and is doubtless
found as'far north as Sweden and Norway, where it meets its close ally the Pteeile borealis.
There is no difference whatever in the colouring o f the sexes, and they differ so little in size that
dissectiou must be respited to to distiogurih one from the other.
The Marsh-, like the Coal Tit, inhabits all the great woods in the neighbourhood o f the Thames and other
parts o f England; it also frequents coppices, bedge-rows, and swampy grounds; and I have not failed to
observe that it a fleets the lower trees and »haws, while the Coal Tit resorts to the higher branches of tall
beech trees in chalkv districts, as well as those o f fiat alluvial lan d : not so, however, the Marsh-Tit; for
although not excluded from such situations, it is less frequently found there.
In its nesting and in its general mode o f nidification it also slightly differs from its frequent associate the
Coal Tit, th e nest being generally placed in a stu b 'n e a r the gronud, or in a bank-side. It varies in size
according to the nature o f tbs situation in which it is placed, being sometimes as small as a cricket-ball, at
others half the size o f a man's hat, Rabbits' down is a favourite material, and I have seen nests composed
almost entirely o f it. One taken from a hole in a birch tree was compact, cup-shaped, smooth both
externally and interuallv, and mainly composed of rabbits’ bair, interwoven on the inner side with minute
chips o f dried grasses, and on the outer side with fine moss; another, taken a t Formosa, in Berkshire, was
a thick matted structure of moss and dogs' hair, the former predominating on the outside, and the hair
inside. As an instance o f the great care some birds take to prevent the detection o f their nests, Mr. Bond
tells uie that he once observed a pair o f Marsh-Tits, who were excavating a hole in an old tree as a place of
deposit for their intended nest, carefully carry away the bits o f wood in their beak one by one, fly over a
neighbouring hedge, and there drop them—a trait in the bird’s economy which is not generally known,