436 PARUS CCERULEUS. 



the whole of the nest back into the place from whence it had 

 been taken, unrolled and resettled the remaining little ones, 

 fed them with the usual attentions, and finally succeeded in 

 rearing them. The parents of even this reduced family la- 

 boured with great perseverance to supply its wants, one or the 

 other of them bringing a grub, caterpillar, or some insect, at 

 intervals of less than a minute through the day, and probably 

 in the earlier part of the morning more frequently ; but if we 

 allow that they brought food to the hole every minute for four- 

 teen hours, and provided for their own wants also, it will ad- 

 mit of perhaps a thousand grubs a day for the requirements of 

 one, and that a diminished brood ; and gives us some compre- 

 hension of the infinite number requisite for the summer nutri- 

 ment of our soft-billed birds, and the great distances gone over 

 by such as have young ones, in their numerous trips from hedge 

 to tree in the hours specified, when they have full broods to 

 support." 



When searching for food upon the twigs of trees, creeping, 

 clinging, jerking, and fluttering, in the society of its fellows, it 

 emits a very feeble and shrill cheep at intervals. If alarmed, 

 or disposed to fly to another tree, it may be seen perching for a 

 moment, raising itself up, and erecting the feathers of its head. 

 Emitting a cry in some degree represented by the syllable 

 cMr-r-r-i\ it then bounces ofl", and alights elsewhere, to pursue 

 its avocations. In winter it is very frequently seen in hedges, 

 whether high or low, and occasionally alights on the gTOund. 

 I am not inclined to think that it eats the buds of trees and 

 shrubs at that season, for, on opening its stomach, I have com- 

 monly found it to contain slender white larvse about four 

 twelfths of an inch long. 



" Of all the birds which frequent our woods during winter," 

 says Mr Hepburn, " the beautiful Blue Tit is my chief fa- 

 vourite. He seems to have no leisure time, but is ever on the 

 move, searching for food, and in so doing conferring important 

 benefits on man. At present (the beginning of April) they 

 seem to frequent the elm in preference to all other trees. For 

 four successive days in the middle of December last, five of 

 these birds were sporting all day long on a row of tall old wil- 



