M A R S H - T I T .
PARIS PJLUSTRIS.
I T is, in my opinion, extremely doubtful why the scientific name of I'nriig pnimifrin wns In-stowed on lliis
spri-ics. Possibly those who gave it in the first instance were but little acquainted iiilh the true
habits of the bird. Small parties of these Tits, it is true, may nt times be found frequenting plantations
in the neighbourhood of water, or busily engaged in searching for food among the bushes in marshy localities;
but the majority of the race arc by no means residents in such situation*.. I have never conic across them in
the rush-grown dykes of the fen-couutry or among the rood-beds of the broad-districts of the eastern counties,
where, during autumn and winter, numbers of Blue Tits may constantly be observed. To mention the
localities they mostly affect is almost impossible; it is hard to describe a spot where A small part v might not
be met with. I havo watched them working Iheir way through the fir-woods in wild and uncultivated tracts
of country, and equally at home while peeking about among the grimy litter and stunted bushes of gardens in
close proximity to smoky towns. I noticed in the east of Sussex that these birds appear to prefer plantations
of modcrate-sbicd undergrowth, when1 the larger timlter consists of oak.
During autumn and winter Marsh-Tits may usually he found in small docks of six or eight individuals,
these parties probably being composed of a pair of old birds with their brood of the previous summer.
Insects furnish the greater part of their diet. Al times they may lie driven to subsist on seeds; but Hies
of various kinds, spiders, and other minute insects, together with small caterpillars, are without doubt their
favourite food.
The nest is occasionally found in holes in trees or banks. Unc was pointed out to me some year- ago
hi a small cavity in a grass-park, that must originally have been either a mouse-bole or a bees' nest. The eggs,
like those of the rest of the Titmouse family, are, when first laid, of a beautiful pale-pink tinge, with red-brown
spots. As soon as incubation commences the beauty of the shell disappears, the general colour becoming a
dirty wlute, and eventually a livid hue.
I have observed this species more numerous in Sussex than in any other county ; they are, however, to
he noticed in most parts of England that I have visited. In Scotland they are decidedly less plentiful. A
few may occasionally be met with in the Loihiuus; but, with the exception of a few stragglers in the
neighbourhood of Dunkeld and near Perth, 1 have observed none that could be positively identified in the
Highlands. In Strathspey and in the east of Koss-shire 1 have carefully examined the flocks of Coal Tils thai
frequent the large lir-woods in those districts, but could never with certainty pick out a single specimen of
I'urut pulutlrU.