THE GREAT TITMOUSE. 89 



quent the bee-hives to get the bees : it is during the 

 winter and early spring that they do so. I am not 

 quite certain that they take the hive-bees, though 

 they are always accused of so doing. I fancy the 

 dead bees, which are so often at the mouths of the 

 hives at this season of the year, first attract them ; 

 and when they have got all they can reach I have 

 known them to peck a large hole into an old straw 

 hive to try to get more. Perhaps this disturbance 

 at the entrance of a hive brings some of the half- 

 torpid bees out to see what is the matter, and 

 Parus major likely enough improves the occasion 

 by devouring them. This Tit seems more insecti- 

 vorous than Parus cceruleus, which does not, so far 

 as I have seen after many years' observation, indulge 

 in this habit." 



The ordinary note of the Great Tit is a loud 

 " cheep," followed by a harsh chatter. In spring 

 and early summer this changes to a curious see-saw 

 note, not unlike the sound produced by sharpening a 

 saw with a file. These notes are very loud for so small 

 a bird, and may be heard a considerable distance. 



The Great Tit occasionally imitates the notes of 

 other birds ; and a correspondent of Macgillivray 



