62 LONG-TAILED TIT. 



we except the Blue, It is not likely to be met with 

 except in well-wooded districts, for it is essentially a 

 bird of the thickets and groves. In colour it is not 

 so gay as the others, being principally black and white. 

 The top of the head, throat and breast are all white. 

 A broad black band runs from the eyes to the back, 

 which is also black. There is also some reddish 

 colouring underneath and on the wings. 



These birds remain with us throughout the year. 

 In the winter they are very interesting little objects, 

 when they collect in parties of ten or a dozen and flit 

 about the bushes. Like all the Tits, they never seem 

 to be still, and are very lively in their search for food, 

 which consists almost entirely of insects. 



The notes of the Long-tailed Tit are somewhat 

 similar to its relations', but they are very soft and not 

 unmelodious. It is not at all a quarrelsome bird like 

 most of the Tits. Its length is about six inches, of 

 which the tail measures three and a half. On ac- 

 count of its long tail and light body it finds it very 

 difficult to steer its course through a strong wind. I 

 recollect standing on our cricket ground one day when 

 a gale was blowing and watching a pair of these birds 

 trying to beat up against it : in the end they were 

 literally blown away. 



The nest is the most beautiful and wonderful of any 

 we know. It takes fully a fortnight for both the little 

 birds working together to complete. It is usiially 

 placed in the centre of a bush or shrub three or four 

 feet from the ground ; sometimes however it is placed 

 in an oak ; it has been taken as high as fifty feet from 

 the ground. It is a large nest for the size of the bird; 

 made very much with the same materials as those of 

 the Chaffinch. It is oval in form, composed chiefly of 



