THE GREAT TITMOUSE AND BLUE TITMOUSE. 127 



by the Great Tit, a loud tapping noise which puts you in 

 mind of the Woodpecker, only the sounds are not so 

 loud. If you search closely around you will probably 

 see a Great Tit clinging with his strong claws to a 

 decayed limb and hammering at the bark, to get at 

 some insect or its larv^ae lurking in the crevices. 



The Great Titmouse does not possess any song, 

 although some of his varied notes are very sweet and 

 pleasant. In the early months of the year, when the 

 winds of March are drying up the saturated lands, the 

 bird is heard uttering his only approach to melody. A 

 few low sweet notes, varied by harsh and grating ones, 

 many of them sounding like the tinkling of a bell, 

 compose his love song. Yet when once the site for the 

 nest is chosen, he and his mate become much more silent, 

 shy, and retiring birds, and continue so throughout the 

 nesting season. The site of her nest varys considerably : ' 

 she will make it in a hole in a wall ; she will repair to 

 the trees, and build it in a hole in their trunks ; she will 

 visit the old abode of the magpie, and build it inside 

 that ; or, stranger still, she will not unfrequently weave 

 it amongst the crevices of the sticks of the Rook's nest, 

 both birds living in perfect harmony together. It is 

 made of moss and dry grass, and lined with a thick and 

 soft bed of feathers. If the nest be made inside a 

 deserted Magpie's or amongst the sticks of a Rook's nest, 

 you find it is domed like the House Sparrow's when in a 

 similar situation, but if in the hole of a tree or wall it is 

 open, and much more loosely made. The eggs of the 

 Great Titmouse are from five to eight in number, and 

 are about the size of a Whitethroat's, pure white, when 

 blown, in ground colour spotted with reddish-brown. 

 Both birds sit upon the eggs, and one brings the other 

 food when so engaged. The young birds are fed almost 



