The sexes are alike in plumage. The whole of the head, chin, throat, and a median line running down the breast are of a glossy blue black; cheeks white; mantle yellowish olive, prolonged forwards to end in a light spot on the nape; wing coverts and tail bluish grey, quills darker. Under parts greenish yellow. Length 5·75 in.; wing 2·85 in. The young are somewhat paler, but otherwise resemble their parents. A common resident throughout the whole country, except the extreme north. THE COAL TIT Parus ater, Linnæus The Coal Tit is often found as a near neighbour of the Blue Tit, but is never so abundant and familiar. It prefers clumps of trees bordering open commons and moors, but it may sometimes be seen on the outskirts of woods. The nest is always placed near the ground, in either a hole of a post or tree, and not infrequently, when suitable holes are scarce, mouse-burrows in the ground itself are chosen. It is chiefly composed of moss and lined with hair and feathers, and the eggs, eight to ten in number, are white speckled with brown, much resembling those of other Tits. The young are fed entirely on insects, and after leaving the nest wander about in family parties, gradually scattering over the country, but seldom becoming so familiar in the haunts of man and vicinity of towns as the Blue Tit. The sexes are alike. The head, neck, and upper breast are a glossy blue black; the cheeks and a nuchal spot white; back grey, browner on the rump; wing coverts tipped with white to form two bars. Breast whitish, passing to pale brown on the flanks and belly. Length 4·25 in.; wing 2·4 in. The young lack the gloss on the head, and the white cheeks and nape are tinged with yellow. This species may readily be distinguished from the Marsh Tit by the white nuchal spot. THE MARSH TIT Parus palustris, Linnæus This bird is the rarest of our common species of Tits, although in some places it outnumbers the Coal. In habits it is very similar to its congeners, but is perhaps more partial to young alder and willow plantations than some of the others. Its name would lead us to suspect that it especially frequents marshy spots, but this is not the case. It chooses for its nesting-site a hole in some decayed stump which it not infrequently hews out for itself, and the nest consists of the usual materials, but sometimes willow-down is used in addition for a lining, a material never found in the nests of other Tits. [Illustration: MARSH TIT _Parus palustris_] The note is a three-syllabled chirp bearing a family resemblance to that of the other species. The food consists of insects and seeds of various kinds which it seeks with the unceasing energy characteristic of this genus.