. A history of British birds. Birds. 480 BRITISH BIRDS. The number varies from five to eight, and some writers say even twelve; but no such case has ever come under my notice. They are white with a scarcely perceptible yellowish tinge in ground-colour, spotted and speckled with light red. The markings are usually most numerous on the large end of the egg. Some specimens have the spots very small and more evenly distributed than others, and on some eggs there are a few short streaky spots of blackish brown. They vary fi-om '67 to '6 inch in length and from •52 to "47 inch in breadth. It is
. A history of British birds. Birds. 480 BRITISH BIRDS. The number varies from five to eight, and some writers say even twelve; but no such case has ever come under my notice. They are white with a scarcely perceptible yellowish tinge in ground-colour, spotted and speckled with light red. The markings are usually most numerous on the large end of the egg. Some specimens have the spots very small and more evenly distributed than others, and on some eggs there are a few short streaky spots of blackish brown. They vary fi-om '67 to '6 inch in length and from •52 to "47 inch in breadth. It is impossible to distinguish the eggs of the Marsh-Tit from those of its allies. They are, of course, slightly smaller than Great Tit^s ; but the only safe guide to the correct authenti- cation of the eggs of this bird, and indeed of those of aU the Tits, is by observing the parent birds. The typical form of the Marsh-Tit has the head, from the base of the bill to the nape, bluish black; the cheeks and sides of the neck are white ; the rest of the upper parts are sandy brown, paler on the rump ; the wings and tail are dark brown, the feathers of the former with lighter margins; but there are no pale tips to the wing-coverts. The chin and upper throat are black, the feathers more or less margined with dull white ; the breast and belly are dull greyish white tinged with buff on the flanks and lower belly. Bill black; legs, feet, and claws lead-colour; irides dark brown. The female does not differ in colour from the male; and young birds closely resemble their parents, but the colours are Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Seebohm, Henry, 1832-1895. London, Pub. for the author by R. H. Porter [etc. ]
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1883
