GREAT TITMOUSE 521 



while, with the exception of the silvery-white abdomen, the under-parts 

 are bright sulphur-yellow ; the legs being leaden blue, and the beak 

 black. Hens are somewhat duller coloured than their mates; and 

 in young birds this dulness is still more noticeable, while there is 

 relatively less blue and more yellow. 



Resident throughout the United Kingdom, although apparently 

 unknown in the Outer Hebrides, the blue titmouse ranges northward 

 to latitude 64° in Scandinavia and 61° in Russia, eastwards to the 

 Urals and the Caucasus, and southwards to the Mediterranean. In 

 autumn large flocks reach the eastern coasts of England from the 

 Continent. 



One account will serve for the habits of almost all the short-tailed 

 titmice. Although insects, spiders, etc., form their staple diet, titmice 

 also eat seeds, and in severe weather almost any kind of food ; in 

 autumn they do much damage to apples and pears, especially the latter, 

 by pecking holes around and just above the stalk. They are all 

 tree-dwelling birds, associating in small family parties, and seldom 

 descending to the ground ; and they all lay spotted eggs, of which 

 there may be many in a clutch, these being deposited in roughly con- 

 structed nests of moss, grass, wool, and hair (or some of these materials), 

 situated in holes of trees or other convenient cavities. In the case of 

 the present species from five to eight is the usual number of eggs in a 

 clutch, although there may be as many as a dozen. They are white, 

 with a sprinkling of minute rust -coloured dots, often aggregated at 

 the larger end. When there is a full clutch of eggs the young birds 

 completely fill the nest. 



The British blue titmouse {Parus ccerulcus obscitnis) differs from 

 P. ccBruleus typicus of continental Europe in being darker and more 

 greenish on the back ; while its size is generally smaller, the beak is 

 thicker, and the white tips to the inner secondaries are, as a rule, 

 narrower and cut off in a straight line. 



Great Titmouse ^^^ gieatly superior size (length sf inches) alone 



,„ . ^ suffices to distinguish the great titmouse, which 



(Parus major). , ^ ^, ^ ^ ... 



IS the type of the genus, from the precedmg 



species. As regards colouring, the head, with the exception of a 



large white patch on each side, is bluish black, this being continued 



downwards on to the throat and thence along the middle line of 



the breast and abdomen ; the back is yellowish green ; the wings 



are pale blue, with white tips to their greater coverts ; and, with the 



exception of the aforesaid black stripe, the breast is greenish yellow. 



