Me 
134 NATURAL HISTORY 
in every cranny and cleft of rock or rubbish, and 
even in the ground itself. 
Every species of titmouse winters with us; they 
have what I call a kind of intermediate bill: between 
the hard and the soft, between the Linnzean genera 
of frangilla and motacilla. One species alone. 
spends its whole time in the woods and fields, never 
retreating for succour in the severest seasons to 
houses and neighbourhoods, and that is the delicate 
long-tailed titmouse, which is almost as minute as 
the golden-crowned wren; but the BLuz Tirmovsse, 
or nun (parus ceruleus), the colemouse (parus ater), 
the great black-headed titmouse (fringillago), and 
the marsh titmouse (parus palustris), all resort, at 
times, to buildings, and in hard weather particularly. 
The great titmouse, driven by stress of weather, 
much frequents houses, and in deep snows I have 
seen this bird, while it hung with its back downward 
(to my no small delight and admiration), draw straws 
lengthwise from out the eaves of thatched houses, 
in order to pull out the flies that were concealed 
