from the tip of the beak to the tip of the tail! By the way, the 
shape of the beak should be carefully noted. It is that of a 
typical warbler. 
It may be urged that this description of the warblers might well 
have been omitted from these pages, since, in regard to “ Flight,” 
nothing whatever can be said, save that they “fly.” There 
would indeed, be some justification for such criticism, but it is 
to be remembered that this volume is written, not for the expert, 
but for the novice, who, because he needs a few concrete examples 
of the hopelessness of expecting to identify every bird he may 
encounter by its flight, and of the methods he must occasionally 
adopt, when seeking to name a bird which will not come out into 
the open. His course of training, and discovery, will be much 
shortened by the realization that birds by no means always reveal 
their presence by taking long flights. 
What is true of the warblers, in this regard, is true also of our 
numerous species of tit-mice. We do not distinguish between them 
in the field by their flight, but by their coloration. 
But since these are such confiding little birds, coming to our 
very windows during the winter months, for food, a few notes 
concerning them may be acceptable. The commonest of all is 
the little blue-tit, or ‘‘ tom-tit,” as it is so often called. Its 
beautiful cobalt-blue crown, blue back, wings, and tail, white face, 
and yellow breast, are familiar to us all. Its larger relative, the 
84 
