TITS, OR TITMICE. 15 



other, and mingle so as to produce all sorts of intermediate tints, 

 and produce a very harmonious effect on the whole. The body of the 

 bird is not larger than that of most other Tits, not so long as some, 

 but its whole length including the tail is about five inches and a half, 

 the tail being at least three inches long; being chiefly black and white, 

 it somewhat resembles that of the Magpie, hence the names Mag and 

 Pye, sometimes applied to the bird. 



Nothing can be more beautiful and interesting than the motions of 

 this indefatigable insect-hunter; its habits resemble those of the rest 

 of the family, than any of which it is if possible more lively and 

 active; from the very first peep of day until sunset, it is incessantly 

 in motion, searching here, there, and everywhere about the trees, for 

 food, and flying with extended tail from one spot to another. 



"How pleasant it is," says the Scottish naturalist, Macgillivray, "to 

 gaze upon these little creatures skimming along the tops of the tall trees 

 by the margin of the brook, ever in motion, searching the twigs with 

 care, and chirping their shrill notes as they scamper away one after 

 another.'" "In flying as they do from tree to tree," says Morris, "in 

 an irregular string, they have a singular appearance; they seem so 

 light, and as it were overburdened by the length of their tails, that 

 but a moderate gust might be thought to be too much for them." 

 Meyer says "Constantly in motion from tree to tree, and flying in 

 a straight line with much rapidity, they remind the spectator of a 

 pictorial representation of a flight of arrows." "Away," says Knapp, 

 "they all scuttle to be first, stop for a second, and then are away 

 again, observing the same order, and precipitation the whole day long." 

 This bird has not so sharp and shrill a note as most of its relatives, 

 all its utterances are soft and pleasing, its twit, twit, and churr, churr, 

 have an inward kind of sound, as if the bird were talking to itself, some- 

 times its te-te, tse re-re and zit, zit, have almost the melody of a song. 



But it is in nest building that our long-tailed friend excels most ; no 

 Tit comes near him in that, nor indeed many other birds; it is a 

 most elaborate structure, from five to seven inches long, by three or 

 four wide, presenting in shape the rude outline of a bottle with a 

 short neck; the entrance is at the side, and is so small, that one 

 wonders how the parent birds get in and out, and especially how 

 they manage to stow away their tails. Some of the nests have two 

 apertures, on opposite sides, and out of one a tail has been observed 

 sticking, and out of the other a head, presenting a most absurd 

 appearance. But all the nests have not two openings, although all the 

 birds have long tails, and this is a mystery which we cannot pretend 

 to explain: probably, as the Tits go in head first, they leave their 



