BIRDS once bjr no means rare in several localities, chiefly in east Suffolk, but is now only an autumn and winter visitant. Two were recorded in the Field as having been seen near Ipswich in the autumn of 1902. 3 1 . Long-tailed Tit. Acrtdula caudata (Linn,) Locally, Pudding-poke, Bum-barrel, from the shape of its nest. A resident and an early breeder, often commencing to build its curious nest in March, when it is easily found in the bare thorn hedges. 32. Great Tit, Parus major, Linn. Locally, Black-cap. A common resident species, which becomes very tame where it is fed in the winter, and will always go to suitable nest-boxes provided for its accommodation. It has a curious habit of covering up its eggs till the full clutch is laid, and the sitting hen will allow the lid of the box to be removed and replaced without leaving her nest. Where traps baited with cheese are set for mice in gardens great tits, blue tits and nuthatches are almost cer- tain to be caught unless the traps are covered or sprung during the daytime. Among the early signs of spring is the note of the great tit, of which country people remark that ' He's a sharpin' his saw.' 33. Coal-Tit, Parus ater, Linn. A resident, not so common as the last, but very similar in its habits, except that of roosting in haystacks, which none of the other tits <lo. 34. Marsh-Tit, Parus palustris, Linn, Also a resident, but not abundant. Its favourite nesting-place seems to be an old rotten birch or alder stump, in which it often bores for itself a neat little nesting-hole like that of a woodpecker, and builds a small nest chiefly made of down. As a rule it lays eggs marked with larger and darker spots than those of the other tits. 35. Blue Tit. Parus caruleus, Linn, Locally, Blue-cap, Tom-tit, Pick-cheese, A common resident, well known to every one, and the word ' impudent ' suits it better than ' tame,' In Suffolk all the tits appear to breed but once in a year, and as the family sometimes consists of ten or a dozen they increase as rapidly as many birds which rear two broods, A nest-box with a small hole placed on a garden wall is pretty certain to attract a pair of blue tits, and they more than pay their rent by the number of caterpillars which they destroy when feeding their young. 36. Crested Tit, Parus cristatus, Linn. Mr. Hele saw one in his garden at Alde- burgh in the summer of 1861, and as he possessed a good knowledge of birds combined with excellent eyesight there can be no doubt as to the identity of the bird. A second was shot at Melton in 1873 and seen by Dr. Babington (ZWa^rf, 1890, p. 21 1) 37. Nuthatch, Sitta casta. Wolf, A resident in the strict sense of the word, as there appear to be no records of its migra- tion anywhere in England, and it does not find a place in the list of nearly 400 species seen or obtained on Heligoland, It has a singular habit, unique among British birds, of plastering up the entrance to its nesting-place with clay, leaving only a hole just large enough to allow it to pass in and out, and it also uses an unusual material for its nest, which is simply a heap of the scales of the Scotch fir. Like the great tit it will readily take advan- tage of a nesting box, and will also come to a window for food. No bird is more amusing to watch than a nuthatch when feeding, and no bird can take better care of itself, as even the sparrow stands in awe of the long sharp bill which can ' hack ' a hole in the shell of a hazel nut. The name ' nuthatch ' means the ' hacker of nuts,' and the bird is often mis- called a ' tree-creeper ' or a ' woodpecker.* 38, Wren, Troglodytes parvulus, K. L, Koch. Locally, Tittereen or Magareen, which may be corruptions of Titty Wren and Maggie Wren. A hardy little resident, which seems able to find food even in hard winters, as it never comes to be fed. Records of its migratory movements have been received from the Corton and Shipwash light-vessels, and also from the Orford lighthouse, 39, Tree-Creeper, Certhia familiarls,Jvm. Locally, Creep-tree ; Dr. Babington also gives Bark-runner, This little bird is almost as much a resident as the nuthatch, and is fairly common through- out the county wherever trees suitable to its habits are to be found. It usually builds behind a loose piece of bark on an elm, and has often been known to use an artificial site of this kind. Two nests, both containing eggs, have been seen in places thus constructed on opposite sides of the same elm tree. The eggs of the tree-creeper much resemble those 183
