14 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 
only Tit I have seen in confinement here, several having 
been brought down to Calcutta of late years. It does 
well as a captive, and from its beauty and active 
movements is a nice pet. Butit should not be trusted 
with birds no larger than itself, as it has murderous 
proclivities, like Tits in general—another proof of their 
relationship to the blackguard Crow. Tits in confine- 
ment should have hemp-seed and cracked nuts in addi- 
tion to the usual food of small insectivorous birds. 
Cocoanut shells should be provided for them to sleep 
in, and two, even of the same species, should not be put 
together without great caution. 
Tue Inp1IAN Grey Tir (Parus atriceps), called in Ben- 
gali Ram-gangra, is grey above and dirty white below; 
the head and breast, with a streak running down from 
the latter, are black except for the pure white cheeks 
Young birds have a strong yellow tinge throughout 
the plumage. This bird is a little smaller than a spar- 
row ; itis the most widely-spread of Indian Tits, being 
found nearly all over India and Burmah, and frequenting 
both hills and plains. It breeds from March to June, 
laying about half-a-dozen eggs, pinky-white with red 
spots, in any convenient hole in a tree, wall, or even 
bank. It hasa very wide range outside our Empire, 
being found north to Turkestan and south to the 
Malay Islands. 
THE BABBLERS. 
These form the most numerous group of Indian 
birds and are, of all the smaller fry, the most interesting in _/ 
my opinion, whether at large or in the aviary. 
