500 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
The Conirostral Passerines include the family of Paride, or Tits. 
The Titmice, as they are sometimes called, are small birds, seldom 
attaining the size of the Common Sparrow. Their general form is 
moderately full, the head large in proportion and broadly ovate. 
Their bill is straight, short, and tapering, furnished with hairs at 
the base, but their individuality is distinguished by their specific 
peculiarities rather than by physiognomy. A characteristic feature 
is their audacity, almost approaching to impudence, and _ their 
courage, the instinctive result of their sociability. These qualities 
secure for them a well-defined place in the group that we have under 
consideration. 
Who discovers the Owl during the day? Who besieges him with 
its clamours? Who pursues him with unintermitting blows of his 
bill? Who rouses the whole tribe of small birds against the nocturnal 
tyrant? It is the Titmouse. Bellicose as bird can be, it gives full 
scope to its most warlike instincts whenever a suitable occasion pre- 
sents itself, its want of physical power being compensated for by the 
vigour of its assault. ‘The Tit is, indeed, the incarnation of motion ; 
it is continually on the gw vive, skipping from branch to branch, at 
one moment piercing the crevices of the bark with its bill in search 
of food, the next hanging suspended from a branch, to which it clings 
with its claws, while it picks off the insects which occupy the lower 
surface of the leaves. 
Nevertheless, it varies its food according to seasons and circum- 
stances. It devours not only all kinds of insects, not excepting 
wasps and bees, but even cereals ard fruits. It is even carnivorous, 
for it has been known to kill weak or sickly birds in order to devour 
them. Some species have a most unnatural partiality for grease, and 
eat it whenever opportunity offers. They are sociable birds, inhabit- 
ing thickets or woods, living in flocks the greater part of the year, 
and showing strong attachment to each other, so that a flock will 
suffer decimation rather than desert a wounded companion. In the 
spring they pair, when each couple seeks out a suitable place in 
which to rear their progeny. 
The position of the nest varies with the species. The Great Tit 
(Parus major) builds in the hole of some wall, or in a cavity formed 
in a decayed tree; it is usually composed of moss, hair, and 
feathers. The Blue Tit (P. ceruéeus) occasionally builds its nest in 
very insecure places. Mr. Duncan, one of Mr. McGillivray’s corres- 
pondents, in a MS. note now before us, says, ‘In the year 1836 I 
discovered the rest of a pair of Blue Tits in the shaft of a pump well, 
which was drenched and partly carried away every time water was 
