HABITS OF THE TITMOUSE. 



IN reply to " H. D/s " query in LAND AND 

 WATER as to whether instances had been known 

 of any of the tits killing small birds, I beg to 

 inform him that on the 27th of May last I saw a 

 male greater tit (Parus major) attack a young black- 

 cap (Sylvia atricapilla) and kill it by peeking it 

 repeatedly on the head. This occurrence took place 

 in the garden belonging to St. Peter's College, Cam- 

 bridge. One that I saw kill a linnet in an aviary, 

 commenced its feast by picking a hole in the skull, 

 in order to reach the brain, which seems to be a 

 favourite morsel. Bechstein states that some bird- 

 fanciers imagine that only those specimens that 

 have forked tails are guilty of these murderous 

 propensities, an idea about as rational as condemn- 

 ing a man for wearing a swallow-tail coat. If kept 

 in a separate cage, I think the greater tit is one 

 of the most interesting of 1 our small birds, from 

 the beauty of its plumage and the liveliness of its 



