20 BIRDS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 



small, stunted bill is black, and the legs and feet dark slate 

 grey. Length, 5^ inches ; tail, 3. 



It is found throughout the British Isles, where it fre- 

 quents woods and plantations. Insects, and possibly a few 

 small seeds, are its diet. 



All the tits eat insects during the spring, summer, and 

 the greater part of the autumn, when they begin to feed 

 on various kinds of seed, evincing a marked preference for 

 those of the sunflower, which they will travel a long 

 distance to obtain, even penetrating to the heart of London 

 to regale themselves on this daintv of theirs. Other seeds 

 eaten are hemp, and those of the larch and other coniferte, 

 the alder, birch, and willow. 



The five first species nest in holes in trees, where they 

 rear numerous families of sometimes as many as eight or 

 nine, and they usually have two broods during the season. 



The long-tailed tit, however, difters from the others in 

 weaving an admirably constructed nest about the size of a 

 cricket ball, which it suspends from the lower branch of a 

 fir or some other tree in a quiet place ; it is made of moss 

 and lichens fastened together with fibre and cobwebs, and 

 lined with small feathers ; so beautifully built is this cosy 

 habitation, and so securely fastened to the branch, that it 

 seldom gives way, even after the little family have left it, 

 and keeps swinging on with every breeze until far into 

 the following j^ear. 



The tits are much persecuted by horticulturists under 

 the mistaken notion that they damage fruit trees by 

 knocking oft' the buds. 



They certainly do remove some in their quest after 

 insects, and especially the hibernating pupa3 and the eggs 

 of destructive moths, or, rather, moths, the caterpillars of 

 wdiich do such mischief in orchards ; but if a little attention 

 is paid to the matter, it will be seen that the bird's visits 



