10 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 58. 



fish utilitarian standpoint of man. The question is not merely 

 whether the species is found to be beneficial or harmful after 

 the examination of the contents of many stomachs by experts 

 of the Department of Agriculture, and hence should be pro- 

 tected or not protected, but rather, as a German naturalist has 

 recently said, 'Nature must be full of interesting figures, of 

 various voices, that man may find pleasure in it, for only out 

 of nature can a nation regain vitality, energy, and power. 

 Nations who have lost their feeling for nature, like the 

 Italians and Spaniards, by killing off the feathered songsters 

 and making a solitude of their forests and fields, have the 

 germs of death in their national lives ; in fact, are only living 

 artificial lives. Nations who retain a strong feeling for nature 

 as the Teutonic, Slavic, and Japanese, can be beaten to the 

 ground and like Anteus of old can rise with renewed vigor. 

 Consequently every government should be wise enough to keep 

 this feeling alive within the nation, and one of the means is the 

 preservation of existing forms whether beneficial or not.' 

 Then why try to persecute the Blue Tit? No, let it live to be 

 enjoyed by both young and old. 



The same nesting places are sought by the Blue Tit as by the 

 other members of this family, the same jealous quarrels and 

 love afifairs are pursued, the same roving habits taken up in the 

 fall and winter. 



The eggs number from six to ten, and measure 15 by 12 

 millimeters. By the end of May the young are ready to fly. 

 Incubation is performed by the female alone, but the young are 

 provided for by both parents. I found their nests in the knot- 

 holes of the oak more often than in any other tree. 



The Great Tit (Parus major) is in many respects a larger 

 edition of the Blue Tit, but still has many peculiarities of its 

 own. It also prefers the deciduous trees to the coniferous 

 woods, but during the breeding season is not quite as much 

 restricted to them as the Blue Tit, and is found in mountains 

 and foot hills as often as in the valleys and on the plains. 



Tlie characteristic call note is a loud 'pink, pink,' the mating 

 note a 'bissi' or a 'disda disda,' but there are manv other 



