128 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



entirely on caterpillars and grubs, which the old birds 

 obtain from the neighbouring trees and bushes. When 

 able to fly, I believe their parents abandon them, and 

 very often rear another brood. 



In the autumn months the Great Tit frequents the 

 birch woods in greatest abundance, where you see them 

 feeding on the insects abounding amongst the slender 

 twigs, or eating the tiny seeds. You also find that it 

 delights to frequent the topmost branches, and that it is 

 far more wary than any other member of the family, 

 save, indeed, the wild loving Marsh Tit. 



The Blue Titmouse, of all members of this active 

 group of birds, is the best known, and probably the 

 oftenest seen and of the commonest occurrence. There 

 is' hardly a wood, plantation, field, orchard, garden, or 

 hedgerow, that does not contain him at some period of 

 the year. In size he is rather smaller than the Great 

 Titmouse, and his plumage is slightly different. The 

 delicate azure blue which pervades much of his plumage 

 is perhaps unequalled in the loveliness of its tint, and the 

 manner in which his other colouring is distributed causes 

 him to be a bird of no mean degree of beauty. 



The notes of the Blue Titmouse are varied, some of 

 them being harsh and monotonous, while others are 

 pleasing, many of them resembling the call notes of the 

 Gold-crested Kinglet. No song escapes from him in 

 the vernal year, when almost every other feathered 

 tenant of the woods is overflowing with music. He is 

 perhaps more noisy than usual, and that is all. His 

 mate, however, experiences as much pleasure from his 

 harsh and grating calls, as the mate of the sweetest 

 warbler does from the delightful trills of her spouse. 



In the early months of the year you often see the 

 Blue Titmouse searching out a nesting-site. The birds 



