THE GREAT TIT. 147 



fragments and lying on the footpath, I have felt that no punishment could be too 

 great, to inflict upon the besotted clodhopper who had committed that piece of 

 vandalism.* 



The Long-tailed Tit has no regular song, but it constantly repeats its shrill 

 call-note tsee-tsee-tscc ; and Seebohm speaks of another note (which I have not 

 heard) and renders it " a sort of ptge, impossible to express on paper." 



As a cage-bird the beautiful Tit is extremely difficult to keep ; a friend of 

 mine who has, on several occasions, attempted to domesticate it, tells me that, 

 although he did not find it shy or specially wild, he could never manage to keep 

 it alive for more than two or three days.f Probably, if hand-reared, this charming 

 little bird might be made a pet of : had I ever been able to find a nest containing 

 young, I should certainly have attempted to bring them up. Perhaps I should 

 have failed, and thus unnecessarily deprived the parents of their very attractive 

 family : in the case of many birds, this would be a matter of little moment ; but 

 a family of Bottle-Tits is more than usually united, living in unison throughout the 

 autumn and winter ; and only separating, for breeding purposes, in the following 

 spring. 



Family PARIDsE. 



THE GREAT TIT. 



Partis major, LlNN. 



SEEBOHM observes that " The Great Tit appears to be found throughout the 

 Palsearctic region, from the British Islands to the Pacific. In Norway, under 

 the influence of the gulf-stream, it ranges as far north as the arctic circle (lat. 



* I found all my nests between Rainham and Newington, in Kent, but I have seen the bird in the autumn 

 on Boxhill, near Dorking. 



t Dr. Girtanner succeeded in keeping Long-tailed Tits in confinement as long as two years. They thrive 

 best when caught in winter, and should at first be fed on leaf-lice and other insects. 



