THE FAERY YEAR 



will huddle in a thick hedge for hours at a stretch 

 during a savage gale, and can hardly be driven into 

 the open. 



A Treasury of Titmice 



The titmouse assembly in the woodlands has 

 received its autumn complement of gold crests, and 

 on a radiant October morning is the sprightliest 

 display of minute bird life. In one flock, in a 

 Midland wood of beech and larch, I found dozens 

 of gold crests, cole and long-tailed tits, with the 

 usual sprinkling of marsh and blue tits, ox-eyes, 

 and a few tree creepers and nuthatches. The flock 

 would be composed chiefly of natives ; but many of 

 the gold crests were probably visitors from oversea, 

 whilst several cole tits, bolder and brighter in dress 

 than the ordinary English form, looked to me like 

 strangers. The titmouse flock is one of the most 

 familiar features of bird society in autumn and winter, 

 and one of the prettiest. It differs from most other 

 flocks in this the birds which form it vary much 

 in food and habits. Two titmice the cole and 

 marsh are seed as much as insect eaters. 



Now the cole tit is enjoying the mast or nuts of 

 the beech tree ; the marsh, the blue, and the great 

 tits also eat this mast, but scarcely, I think, with 

 his keen relish. The cole tit may not be quite so 

 dressy as the marsh tit, whose jet cap is the braver, 

 but he is a choice little thing. His flight, as he 

 260 



