44 



The Paridce, or Titmice. 



[Sess. 



regards bulk, they possess daring that would put to shame 

 birds six times their size. Just attempt to rob the nest, or put 

 your hand into the hole where the same is concealed, and yon 

 will soon have painful evidence of their dislike to your inter- 

 ference. The sitting bird will hiss like a small snake and salute 

 your fingers with no gentle bite, particularly the great tit, to 

 whose natural disinclination to be meddled with is to be added 

 a longer, and correspondingly stronger, mandible, capable of 

 inflicting considerable pain on the assailant. One cannot help 

 admiring the pluck displayed by these mites of creatures when 

 guarding their eggs or young, — a bravery, when we take their 

 size into account, far exceeding that of most birds whose 

 powers of defence are infinitely greater. Why titmice should 

 be gifted with larger powers of resistance than other small birds 

 is not easy to understand. It can hardly be that Nature, 

 taking into account their usefulness, endows them with courage 

 disproportionate to their size, in order to allow of their in- 

 crease, — as in the case of many other equally useful species, 

 notably the Warblers, the reverse is the rule, the mere acci- 

 dental finding of the nest or touching the eggs being sufficient 

 to make the birds desert. There" can be no doubt, however, 

 that Providence, who has ordered everything so wisely, must 

 have bestowed the quality for some rational end, and with the 

 knowledge of that we are fain to be content. 



Enough, perhaps, has been said by way of introduction, so 

 we will now turn to look at the species in detail. Of the true 

 titmice, six exist in Scotland, and one other, known as the 

 bearded tit, forming a separate genus, has been found in 

 England ; but of this latter no mention need be made, as it is 

 quite unknown in our more northerly part of the island. The 

 names of the six are as follows : — 



Marsh tit, . Parus palustris. 

 Long-tailed tit, . „ caudatus. 

 Crested tit, . n cristatus. 



The great tit, or ox-eye, is the largest of the genus, and can 

 be readily distinguished from the broad black band down its 

 breast and lower parts. The cognomen ox-eye is occasionally 

 applied to the blue and cole tits, but erroneously so. How the 

 name originated is not clear, and in reality is of little im- 



