WILD CREATURES OF GARDEN AND HEDGEROW 



amazingly fast, and are soon clad in a smart 

 uniform of feathers that puts their worn and 

 shabby parents to shame. Soon they are 

 scrambling up to the entrance hole and peeping 

 out into the yard, after which it is only a matter 

 of hours until they leave. The first flight is a 

 critical time, for the cats, to say nothing of the 

 tame raven that lives in the backyard, are all 

 on the look out for tender young fledglings. 

 If they manage to flutter across to the ivy- 

 clad wall, and from thence to the big Spanish 

 chestnut tree, all will be well. The chattering 

 and scolding of the old birds betrays how 

 anxious they are, but once they get them into 

 the trees they are fairly safe. 



Unlike so many other birds, tits do not 

 break up their family parties, but remain 

 together all winter. In the autumn several 

 lots will join forces; blue tits, coal tits, and 

 great tits will flit twittering happily together 

 through the trees, and what a pretty sight it is 

 to watch them as they search here and there 

 for hidden insects. A blue tit hangs upside 

 down peeping into a curled and withered leaf 

 that has not yet fallen from its place. A great 

 tit having found a nut carries it to the trunk 

 of a tree, drops it into a convenient crack in 

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