CRESTED TITMOUSE.
Parus cristatus, PENNANT. MONTAGU. Parus—A contraction of Parvus—Little ? Cristatus—Crested.

If any of my readers,' says Macgillivray, 'should be anxious to know how an author may contrive to talk a great deal about nothing, he may consult the article, 'Crested Tit,' in an amusing work entitled 'The Feathered Tribes of the British Islands.' I have only hereon to remark that Mr. Macgillivray is very seldom wrong, and this is not one of the few instances in which he is. Mudie certainly disproved the truth of the proverb 'ex nihilo nihil fit,' for though his stock of knowledge of any bird might be 'nil,' that had nothing whatever to do with the 'quantum' he wrote about it; and thus he made his book.
The Crested Titmouse is an European bird, being found in more or less plenty in Denmark, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, France, Switzerland, Poland, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Italy, and Belgium.
In our own country it occurs more sparingly, is of very local distribution, and appears to be confined to the northern districts of the island, where, in the extensive pine forests, its shy habits and the secluded character of its chosen habitat, render its discovery a matter of rarer occurrence than under other circumstances would probably be the case.
In Yorkshire one is stated by Mr. Allis, on the authority of Mr. J. Heppenstall, to have been seen in a garden at Thorne, in the West-Riding. In the county of Durham, one was shot on Sunderland Moor, in the middle of January, 1850. About the year 1789, a considerable flock was observed in Scotland, as also in various parts there in the autumn of 1848; in other seasons they have been met with, but not so plentifully, though for the most part in small flocks. They are known to breed annually in plantations near Glasgow, and there is therefore no doubt but that either the species is permanently resident in Scotland, or that it may be met with there in some part of every year. The instances of its occurrence that have been recorded, have been in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and of Glasgow, the forest of Grlenmore, the pass of Killiekrankie, and near the river Spey, where two were killed in 1836, and where on another occasion they were seen in considerable numbers—also in Argyleshire, Dumbartonshire, and Perthshire. In Ireland none have been yet seen.
They appear to make partial migrations, or what may perhaps be better described as regular movements.
Birds of this species are said to be of retired habits, to associate but little with their congeners, to keep together in small or large flocks, sometimes in company with others of their kind, but to be quarrelsome one with another. In their 'light fantastic' performances, they resemble the Blue Titmouse. They appear to be not at all shy, and have been observed to erect and depress the crest at pleasure. They are said to hatch two broods in the year. They are easily tamed.
Their food consists of insects, spiders, the small seeds of evergreens, and berries.
The note is described as resembling that of the Cole Titmouse, but as having a peculiar quaver at the end. Meyer renders it by the words 'ghir-r-r-kee.' The bird has also a chirp.
The nest, which is composed of grass, moss, or lichens, fur, wool, and feathers, and doubtless any soft materials, is placed in a hole of a tree, from two to six feet or so from the root, and even a few inches only up from the latter, the oak being said to preferred, as also, according to Temminck, in rocks, or in the deserted nests of crows or squirrels: probably the particulars related of the other Titmice would apply to this one also, as to its location, for a nest examined by Mr. Hewitson was thus scooped out. He writes as follows:—'When trees are felled in the forests, their trunks are left standing about two feet above the ground,' (he is speaking, I should observe, of the forest of Kissingen, in Bavaria,) 'and in the decayed wood of one of these, a hole was scooped to contain the nest of which I have spoken—just such a situation as would have been chosen by the Cole Titmouse.' It appears sometimes to build a nest for itself in a bush, and with an opening on the side.
I may here be permitted to remark, that Mr. Selby's assertion, that he had seen one of the Titmice engaged in hollowing out for itself a place for a nest in the wood of a 'decayed' tree, which has been impugned, on the ground that it could not be understood by a writer opposed to the belief of the account how the bird could scoop out for itself a hole in a 'sound' tree, is most fully borne out by all the writers on the subject who are best entitled to credit. There seems in fact among such to be no difference of opinion about it, so that it is difficult to imagine, in the presence of facts, how the contrary opinion could have suggested itself.
They build at the end of April or early in May.
The eggs are from seven to ten in number, white, spotted and speckled, most so at the larger end, with light purple red.
Male; weight, about two drachms and a half; length, a little above four inches and a half; bill, black. Iris, dark brown, over it is a dull white streak towards the nape, and from behind it runs a black streak, which unites with a curved band of the same; this is succeeded by a patch of white, and this again by another black band, which comes round in front of the shoulders, until it meets the black of the throat; forehead, black and white, the feathers small and scale-like. The head is surmounted by a pretty crest of black feathers, deeply margined with white; it is of a conical shape, somewhat, not inappropriately, in the form of a Scotch cap; the feathers are shortest in front, and gradually heighten, arching forwards—the longest is about an inch in length: at the side it is yellowish white, with a few black specks. Chin, throat, and upper part of the breast, black, in a triangular shape; beneath, it is very light dull fawn-colour, darker at the lower extremity, and tinged with rust-colour, as also the sides; back, pale brown, with a slight tinge of green.
The wings extend to the width of eight inches, and reach to within an inch of the end of the tail; underneath, they are dark grey. Greater and lesser wing coverts, pale greenish brown, and margined with pale grey; underneath, light grey; primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries, greenish brown; the first-named are edged with pale grey on the inner webs; the first feather is less than half the length of the second, the third and fifth nearly equal, larger than the second, and not quite so long as the fourth, which is the longest in the wing. Greater and lesser under wing coverts, dull white, tinged with rust-colour; tail, pale greenish brown, edged with light rust-colour, except the outer ones, which have narrow white edges; underneath, light grey—it is of twelve feathers. Tail coverts, pale greenish brown, but lighter than the back; under tail coverts, as the breast below. Legs and toes, bluish grey; claws, brownish black.
Female; length, four inches and a half; crest, rather shorter than in the male. The black round the neck narrower, and interrupted; the black patch on the breast of smaller size.
The young are said to have a rudimentary crest even in the nest. Chin, nearly black; throat, grey; breast, dull white, mixed with grey, as are all the under parts.

"Even in a bird the simplest notes have charms for me."
GRAHAME