The Great Tit. 147 



too great to iuflict upon the besotted clodhopper who had committed that piece 

 of vandalism.* 



The Long-tailed Tit has no regular song, but it constantly repeats its shrill 

 call-note — tsee-tsee-tsce ; and Seebohm speaks of another note (which I have not 

 heard) and renders it — " a sort of ptgc, impossible to express on paper." 



As a cage-bird this beautiful Tit is extremely difficult to keep ; a friend of 

 mine, who has, on several occasions, attempted to domesticate it, tells me that, 

 although he did not find it shy or specially wild, he could never manage to 

 keep it alive for more than two or three days.f Probably, if hand-reared, this 

 charming little bird might be made a pet of: had I ever been able to find a 

 nest containing j-oung, I should certainly have attempted to bring them up. 

 Perhaps I should have failed, and thus unnecessarily deprived the parents of 

 their very attractive family : in the case of many birds, this would be a matter 

 of little moment ; but a family of Bottle-Tits is more than usually united, living 

 in unison throughout the autumn aud winter ; and only separating, for breeding 

 purposes, in the following spring. 



Family— PARID^. 



The Great Tit. 



Parus major, LiNN. 



SEEBOHM observes that "The Great Tit appears to be found throughout 

 the Palaearctic region, from the British Islands to the Pacific. In Norway, 

 under the influence of the gulf-stream, it ranges as far north as the arctic 

 circle (lat. 66^°). In West Russia it has not been recorded north of lat. 64°. In 



* I found all my nests between Raiuham and Newington, in Kent, but I have seen the bird in the 

 autumn on Boxhill, near Dorking. 



t Dr. Girtanner succeeded in keeping Long-tailed Tits in confinement as long as two rears. They 

 thrive best when caught in winter, and should at first be fed on leaf-lice and other insects. 



O 2 



