76 OUR BIRD ALLIES. 
or three small grubs—a rate of at least 4,000 per 
week. 
In early spring this bird may sometimes be seen 
apparently destroying the young buds, and I have 
seen it pecking away vigorously at the blossoms of 
a cherry-tree, and causing the petals to fall to the 
ground in quite a small shower. In all such cases, 
however, the buds or blossoms in question seem to 
be infested with insects, which would not only them- 
selves have performed the work of destruction in an 
equal degree, but would also, if permitted to live, 
have in their turn become the parents of hundreds of 
equally mischievous creatures. 
In selecting a site for its nest, the blue tit is by no 
means fastidious. Perhaps a hole in a tree is that 
most frequently chosen, but beehives, pumps, the 
weathercock upon a church steeple, a pillar letter-box, 
a suspended bottle, inverted flower-pots, the hat of 
an old scarecrow, and the deserted abode of a black- 
bird, have all been laid under contribution by the 
bird at different times. The only requisites, indeed, 
for which the blue tit seems to care are a chamber of 
sufficient size to contain the nest, and a moderate 
amount of concealment; and, granted these, it is in 
no wise particular, and will build in almost any 
conceivable situation. 
An ornithological friend has been in the habit for 
some years of fastening a number of specially-made 
boxes in different parts of his grounds, a hole being 
provided by which a bird can enter, while the lid can 
be removed and the inmates observed from above. 
