THE GREAT TITMOUSE. 87 



it does also when they are blown. It is often diffi- 

 cult to distinguish them from eggs of the Nuthatch, 

 which they closely resemble both in size and colour. 

 Indeed the birds themselves have considerable 

 affinity, as shown by their structure, and parti- 

 cularly by the form of the bill. 



Macgillivray has pointed out that in certain 

 respects the Tits are allied to the Jays, not only in 

 structure, but also in some of their habits. The 

 Great Titmouse, being the largest of the genus, 

 exhibits this relationship .in a more remarkable 

 degree than the others. 



It is in a manner omnivorous, for, not content 

 with seeds, insects, and larvae, it eats the flesh of 

 birds or small mammals ; and, according to many 

 respectable writers, sometimes attacks small or 

 young birds, and splits their skull with its bill, 

 picking out and devouring the brains. Seeds of 

 cereal plants and others it breaks by repeated 

 strokes of the bill. We have often watched a 

 Great Tit extracting the kernel of the beech-mast, 

 while it steadied it by holding it under one or both 

 feet. We have also observed this bird alight upon 

 a ripening walnut, and with repeated strokes detach 



