42 



British Birds. 



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I— The Great Tit. 



2 — The Crested Tit. 3 — The Com, Tu. 4 — The M.\ksh Tit. 

 T — The Be.arded Tit. 5 — The Blue Tit. 



here its presence may be detected by its note. ' too-ee. too-ee.' many times repeated, 

 or by the sound of its hammering on the bark, the blows which it gives being 

 remarkably powerful for so small a bird. It runs round the branches like a Creeper, 

 prising off the bark to get at the ants and small insects, and often runs on the 

 under side of a bough or comes along the trunk for a short distance head-downwards. 

 The nest is a ver\- rough structure of a few grasses or dead leaves, and is placed in 

 the hole of a -wall or of a tree, in the latter case the entrance being plastered up. 

 The eggs are from four to eight in number, white, with rufous spots and gre}- under- 

 lying dots. 



These birds are found in nearly every part ot the globe, excepting 

 the Australian Region and South America from Mexico southwards. 

 They are. however, more numerous in the northern countries of both 

 hemispheres, and several species occur m Great Britain. They are 

 birds of small size, but have a stout conical bill, with the base covered with teathers. 

 The Great Tit [Parus major). This is the largest British species, and is 

 distinguished by its black head, breast, and abdomen, the black on the latter 

 parts forming a broad streak, which is less evident in the female than in the male. 

 There is a patch of white on the nape as in the Coal Tit, but the large size and 

 yellow colouring on the under-surface of the Great Tit, easilj- serve to distinguish 

 the two species. 



The ' Ox-eye,' as this bird is frequenth' called, is a very active little cieature, 

 and is always in evidence in woods and gardens in the spring, when its lively 



THE TITS, 



Family 



PARID.E. 



