THE TITS 1625 



One taken from a hole in a birch tree was compact, cup shaped, smooth both exter- 

 nally and internally, and mainly composed of rabbits' fur, interwoven on the inner 

 side with minute chips of dried grasses, and on the outer side with fine moss; while 

 another from Berkshire was a thick matted structure of moss and dogs' hair, the 

 moss predominating on the outside and the hair inside. The eggs are pure white, 

 dotted all over with red. The adult male has the crown glossy black, the sides of 

 the neck white, the back grayish brown, the throat black, the wings and tail gray- 

 ish brown, and the breast white, tinged with buff. 



Common in most parts of Europe, where it frequents gardens, or- 

 chards, and the neighborhood of houses, the blue tit (P. cceruleus) is 

 a familiar bird, and often exhibits its antics in full view of any passer.-by. Its 

 laughing call note is well known to every schoolboy, and scarcely less so are its 

 nest and eggs. Rearing its young in a great variety of situations, the same site 

 being resorted to for many generations, the blue tit often nests in a hole upon the 

 ground, while a pair have been known to rear their brood in the steeple of a church. 

 The blue tit sits very close upon its eggs, which, like those of other tits, are white 

 spotted with pale red. Both the present species and the great tit are migratory in 

 their habits, not only crossing the North Sea upon their journeys, but sometimes 

 venturing into the heart of L,ondon. The forehead is white; the crown, back of 

 the neck, and collar are bright blue; the back is yellowish green; the wings and tail 

 are blue; the throat is dusky black; and the under parts are pure yellow. 



Another member of the family that calls for notice, on account of 

 the beauty of its plumage, is the azure tit (/*. cyaneus) of Siberia, 

 which occasionally wanders into Europe, having been captured more than once in 

 the neighborhood of the Russian capital. According to an account of its habits, 

 published by Dr. Dybowski, it appears that this tit breeds in holes in old trees, 

 especially willows, sometimes making use of a deserted woodpecker's nest. The 

 nest is composed of the fur of the white hare and squirrel, with a few pieces of 

 slender grass. The azure tit lays ten or eleven eggs; and one nest is on record com- 

 posed of dried green moss intermixed with fine cow-hair. The eggs are white, 

 spotted with dull red at the larger end. The adult male has the head snowy white, 

 appearing in life as if powdered over with blue; the back is pale bluish gray; the 

 upper tail coverts are Prussian blue tipped with white; the wings are grayish 

 brown, white at the base of the inner web, and the outer web Prussian blue; while 

 the tail is very long and bright Prussian blue, with the exception of the outer 

 feathers, which are white, as are the lower parts. 



Originally included in the typical genus, the crested tit (Lopho- 



phanes cristatus) of Northern Europe, is now generally considered by 



ornithologists to represent the type of a genus including several other 



species. Distinguished from the true tits by the presence of a crest on the head, 



the members of the genus differ from an allied group of crested tits (Macrolophus) 



by the tail being square or slightly forked, whereas in the latter it is rounded. 



Moreover, the black abdominal band, found in the last-named genus, is wanting in 



the present one. The home of the crested tit must be sought in large pine forests, 



or extensive stretches of beech-wood and mixed timber. It is a sh}^ and retiring 



