1 626 THE PERCHING BIRDS 



species, not courting observation like many of its cousins, but shunning the haunts 

 of men even in winter. In the spring we have met with it in small droves, in pairs, 

 and even singly. Though shy and timid, if conscious of being pursued, the crested 

 tit when left alone often allows a quiet observer to enjoy a close inspection of its 

 plumage, and the pale gray crest, jet-black throat, and buffish under parts form a 

 pleasing harmony of color. It has rather a knack of perching overhead, especially 

 if the observer be riding, probably impelled to the survey by curiosity. Anyone 

 who has trained his ear to recognize the cries of birds, will soon become familiar 

 with the liquid call note, prrit or chrrit, which may often be heard before the tiny 

 musician has revealed its whereabouts. The crested tit has a pretty little song gen- 

 erally uttered when a male bird is playfully pursuing one of his companions in mock 

 anger. Mr. C. Thusnall says: "I have generally seen them in the top boughs of 

 the firs, but they frequently come onto the ground, apparently to pick up a seed 

 that may drop from the fir cones; at any rate, you see them fly down, look in the 

 grass, and fly up again immediately. They appear to remain in families, as you 

 seldom see a single one. As a rule, they prefer the rotten stem of a fir, about 

 twelve or fourteen feet high, and bore a hole in the tree from two feet to eight feet 

 above the ground. I have also found the nest in old stumps of very large trees 

 within six inches of the ground. Their nidification is therefore more like that of 

 the coal tit in that respect. ' ' In Rhenish Prussia the crested tit lays in the de- 

 serted nests of the crow, magpie, or squirrel, as well as in hollow trees; the nest be- 

 ing made of moss, wool, and feathers. The eggs are white, spotted all over with 

 bright red. When the pairing season is over, the crested tits band together with 

 tree creepers, goldcrests, and other tits, and scour the woods in search of food; the 

 crested tits leading the van. They do not work the branches as minutely as other 

 tits, preferring to range more widely. 



The crested tit possesses an elongated crest, often raised; the forehead and 

 sides of the head are white, mottled slightly with gray; the feathers of the crown 

 black, edged with white; the cheeks and sides of the head white; and the throat 

 black. The upper parts are grayish brown, so that the bird appears sombre upon 

 the wing; the lower parts are fulvous. 



Agreeing with the true tits in the absence of a head crest, the long- 

 Long-Tailed . . 



Tits tailed tits, as represented by the European species, are sufficiently dis- 



tinguished by the elongation of the appendage from which they take 

 their name. We select for illustration the white-headed long-tailed tit (Acredula 

 caudata) as being the type of the genus. Inhabiting the northern districts of 

 Europe, and occurring also in many parts of Germany, its range somewhat overlaps 

 that of the form termed the British long-tailed tit. The species under consideration 

 is a tolerably common and well-known bird throughout the whole of Switzerland, 

 ranging up into the mountains to an elevation of five thousand feet. It would be 

 difficult to name a more sociable or confiding species, for this tit lives in flocks 

 during the greater part of the year, and roves about with its fellows in quest of the 

 small insects, especially certain grubs found in the catkins of willows, which form 

 its subsistence. Flying in an undulating fashion, and exhibiting a rather peculiar 

 appearance on the wing, as it flits gayly from one tree to another, uttering its loud 



