428 PARUS FRINGILLAGO. 



and lively, seldom appears in greater numbers than two or 

 three, and is not only less social than the other Tits with re- 

 spect to its own kind, but also with respect to its congeners ; 

 not, however, that it does not occasionally keep company with 

 some of them. In winter it frequents woods and thickets, not 

 seeming to give a decided preference to any particular species 

 of trees, and often makes its appearance in gardens, where how- 

 ever it does not take up its residence. Its food consists of in- 

 sects, pupae, larvse, buds, and seeds of various kinds, in search 

 of which it sometimes betakes itself to the ground. It is chiefly 

 on trees however that it is seen, and there it hops and skips 

 with great alacrity, manifesting a constant cheerfulness, stand- 

 ing and hanging in every variety of position, and continually 

 fluttering about in search of food in the crevices of the bark, 

 and among the buds and leaves. Its flight is usually short, 

 being merely from tree to tree, and is performed by a continu- 

 ous flutter of the wings ; but when necessary it can accomplish 

 a pretty extended excursion, and then it flies with considerable 

 undulation. It is not particularly shy, but may be easily ap- 

 proached within shot, although it is rather more observant of 

 intruders upon its haunts than the other species of the genus, 

 which, like the Kinglets, are remarkably inattentive to appear- 

 ances of danger. 



The ordinary cry of this beautiful bird is a loud cheep, 

 followed by a harsh chatter which may be supposed to be 

 represented by chir, r, r, r, 7\ iJc. In spring and the early 

 part of summer its notes bear some resemblance to the 

 sounds produced by a file in sharpening the teeth of a saw, 

 and may be syllabled into tee-fa, tee-ta, tee-ta, tee-ta, tee-ta. 

 They are very loud for a bird of so small a size, and may be 

 heard distinctly, in calm weather, at the distance of about 

 eight hundred paces. 



" Its spring notes,"" Mr Hepburn writes me, " are first heard 

 about the beginning of March, and continued till the middle 

 of May. In April 1839 I pursued one of these birds through 

 a narrow plantation. The first note I heard was that oiclmr-r-r, 

 then chir-r-r ; it then imitated very exactly the twink of the 

 Chafiinch, the alarm notes of the Robin and Wren, and the 

 doleful ditty of the Yellow Bunting ; next it produced a note 



