GEE AT TITMOUSE 



93 



on an anvil or on the rivets of iron rails and girders, or the sound 

 of sharpening a saw. Saw-sharpener is one of its local names. 



FIG. 33. GREAT TIT. natural size. 



Another thing the oxeye is the largest of the tits, consequently 

 the principal member of a group of small birds exhibiting very 

 strongly marked characters. They differ from most small birds, to 

 some extent, in form, colouring, and general appearance, and, in a 

 greater degree, in language and habits. They are extremely active 

 and restless, and spend most of their time in trees, from the bark 

 of the trunk and large branches to the smallest terminal twigs and 

 leaves. In winter, when the elms and other deciduous trees have 

 shed their foliage, and their fine upper boughs appear like a sombre 

 fretwork against the pale sky, the tits are seen at their best ; they 

 are then gathered into small nocks or family parties, and may be 

 observed, as they scatter about the tree, clinging to the twigs in 

 every conceivable position, and looking like a company of small 

 sober-coloured paroquets of this cold northern world. They sub- 

 sist principally 011 small insects and their eggs, larvte, and chrysa- 

 lids, but are almost omnivorous in their diet, feeding on buds, seed, 

 and fruits, and on animal food when it can be had. A meaty bone 

 or a piece of bacon, cooked or raw, or a lump of suet, will quickly 

 attract them, as is well known. The oxeye, pretty little bird as it 

 is, will eat carrion like any crow, and even kill and devour other 

 small birds as big as himself. His rapacious habits have, however, 



