126 RURAL BIRD LIFE, 



by the broad streak of black plumage which reaches 

 from the chest to the vent. He is found commonly in 

 woods, plantations, shrubberies, gardens, and orchards ; 

 we also see him on the hedgerows in the autumn and 

 winter months most frequently ; but in the upland wild 

 he is never found, the presence of trees and shrubs being 

 imperative to his haunt. 



The motions of the Great Titmouse are varied in the 

 extreme. See with what nicety he poises himself, now 

 legs uppermost, now the reverse, now nimbly running 

 over a rugged branch, occasionally stopping to utter his 

 harsh grating call notes. Picture to yourself, gOntle 

 reader, the sound made in sharpening a saw with a three 

 square file, and you have a tolerably good idea of one of 

 his various notes. Now at the bottom of the tree, in an 

 instant on its topmost spray, then back again into the 

 thickest branches. In a word, this sprightly, active, and 

 amusing little cJioj'ista^ explores every nook and cranny, 

 and drags from their lurking places the countless 

 numbers of injurious insects which would, if left, in- 

 crease so rapidly as to ultimately destroy the tree that 

 sustains them. Great Tits are invariably found in pairs, 

 although they associate with their own and other species 

 indiscriminately: still, if you observe them closely, you 

 find that they arrive in pairs and in pairs depart. When 

 observing this active little creature, you would not for a 

 moment suppose him to be guilty of destroying other 

 little birds, for the purpose of feeding on them ; yet he 

 undoubtedly does so, pecking at his victims with his 

 strong little bill until he kills them, when he takes out 

 the brains and a little of the flesh ofi* the breast. His 

 principal food, however, is confined to insects and their 

 larvae, and various kinds of the smaller seeds. You 

 often hear, whilst wandering through districts haunted 



