Birds of Britain 

 THE LONG-TAILED TIT 



Acredula caudata (Linnseus) 



There must be few of us who have not noticed this 

 charming little bird when we are walking in winter along 

 a hedgerow. We are attracted by a high-pitched " zi-zit " 

 as the bird darts from the hedge in front of us, and after 

 a few yards of undulating flight settles again. It is not 

 alone, for another and yet another Tit follows till the whole 

 family party are busy at work hopping and creeping about 

 the hedge. Shortly the whole proceeding takes place again, 

 the family procession moving on to search for food in a 

 new spot. All this goes on daily during the winter months ; 

 up one hedgerow, down another ; now hopping up a tree, 

 occasionally visiting a small wood, ever on the move, and 

 ever restless, till the evening comes, when the little party 

 gather to rest, sitting^ close to each other on some slender 

 bough. 



In April, however, this roving life ends. The cock bird 

 seeks a mate and they proceed to make a summer home, 

 sometimes in an open hedgerow, but more often in the hedge 

 bordering a wood, or in some isolated bush in the wood 

 itself. It would be difficult to imagine anything more 

 beautiful than their nest, which is perhaps the most 

 elaborate of any of our British Birds ! It is a solid thick- 

 walled elliptical mass of felted moss completely covered 

 externally with lichens, which are largely interwoven by 

 means of cobwebs. The entrance, for it is entirely covered 

 in, is towards the upper end, and the interior is lined with 



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