328 THE BLUE TIT. 



When in confinement it has been tested to consume three- 

 eighths of an ounce of butterfly and moth grubs — about 20,000 

 each day — just fancy the enormous good done by each tit con- 

 suming 20,000 eggs of the ill-famed Liparis-monache moth 

 daily ! or the same number of chrysalises, caterpillars, &c. ; and 

 if we calculate what a single pair of tits, with say only two 

 broods in the year of about twenty young ones, will destroy of 

 insect pests — about 30,000,000 yearly — will show the far- 

 reaching world of Nature, and the unwisdom of interfering with 

 her balance of life — even before the insects get leave to fly ; and 

 when we know the redstart eats 800 flies an hour, and the 

 cuckoo 100 caterpillars in the same time, it is not for the great 

 little mind of man — even without the wonders of the microscope, 

 to try and grapple with the unfathomable mysteries of creation. 

 It is like trying to measure the distance from earth to the 

 farthest star in space. It is not only one of the liveliest, 

 but one of the loveliest of our British birds. The head, throat, 

 and under part of neck black, glossed with blue ; cheeks, ear- 

 coverts, and a spot on the neck white ; back, olive-green ; rump, 

 bluish-grey ; wing-coverts, greyish-blue, tipped with w 7 hite ; 

 quills, greenish-grey, added with greyish-blue ; tail the same ; 

 breast and belly light yellow, with a black streak down the 

 centre • legs, bluish-grey ; iris, brown. The blue, black, and 

 white stand out in bold relief. The female the same, only less 

 glossed. Length of this bold, handsome bird is 6£ inches long 

 by 10 in extent of wings. Female half an inch less. 



The Blue Tit. 



(Parus Cceruleus.) Linn. 



" The crystal waters round us fa', 

 The merry birds are lovers a', 

 The scented breezes round us blaw 



A-wandering wi' my Davie." — Burns. 



This is our most common and best known tit, sometimes 

 called bluecap, blue-bonnet, tomtit, billy-biter, and ox-eye also. 

 It is less than the last, and known by its light blue head. It is 

 one of our prettiest and most interesting little birds. Its slightly 

 turned up, pug-like bill, jaunty blue cap, white cheeks, boldness, 



