148



Indian Grey Tit.



However, early in 1916 I was able to get another from one of our

members. It pi’obably came from the same consignment as my own

bird, which was, I believe, brought over by Mr. Harper. Un¬

fortunately the newcomer was minus flights and tail, and was of

course quite unable to fly. She made up for this—I think it was

a hen—by her extreme activity on her feet: it was astonishing at

what a rate she could run up the wire netting. In spite of her weird

appearance she was a most engaging little, thing. She would nearly

always greet me with a perfect volley of swear words—or that’s what

they sounded like anyway. It was certainly the same language she

used to let fly at her fellow-captives if they attempted to take a meal¬

worm from her : I don’t think that any of them ever succeeded in

doing so. The cock I never heard make a sound. Early in May

I turned both birds into an outside aviary containing plenty of

natural cover. The hen was still unable to fly, and as she was

evidently stuck in the moult I had little hope of her ever being able

to do so. As she could not reach the table I had to feed her on the

ground, and she would take peanuts and sunflower seeds, of which

she was very fond, from my feet, and would always come for a meal¬

worm when I had one to spare. Unfortunately, whilst I was away

on holiday, my man must have neglected to feed her on the ground,

and I am afraid she was starved to death. On my return I secured

a hen Great Tit (Pams major), hoping that the surviving Grey Tit

■would make love to her, but this he declined to do. In the autumn

to my regret he also disappeared, but whether he found his way out

through a hole in the netting or simply died I was never able to find

out. P. atriceps is a good deal smaller than an adult P. major, and

is not so bright in colour, but the young Great Tits are almost

exactly similar, and I doubt if anyone could tell the difference

without handling them. Mr. Temple very nearly succeeded in

breeding it in 1913, and given a sufficient supply of live food there

seems to be no reason why it should not be bred in this country.



