1 30 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



It is a pleasing sight to see a brood of young Blue 

 Tits and their parents exploring the trees for food. 

 Perched in every conceivable attitude, the little creatures 

 search each twig and branch for their insect food : hop- 

 ping, fluttering, creeping, and swinging to and fro, there 

 is not a part that promises to reward their search but 

 what is visited. Insects, however, do not compose their 

 food entirely, for vegetable substances, as seeds and buds, 

 are eaten. In the winter they will visit the then leafless 

 pear trees and prey upon any of the fruit which may 

 happen to have withstood the blasts of November. 

 Caterpillars also form no small item of their food. Both 

 Great Tit and Blue Tit will search the ground for food, 

 as well as the trees and hedgerows, the shrubs, walls, 

 and fences. When the ground has been newly manured 

 you see them feeding on the insects, grubs, and beetles 

 amongst the manure, and even eating the refuse of the 

 slaughterhouse, picking the bones and dragging at the 

 putrid flesh with as much zest as the Rooks and Mag- 

 pies. 



Parties of Blue Titmice are seldom seen after the 

 month of January, when the old birds repair to the neigh- 

 bourhood of their nesting-sites, and the young ones pair 

 and set out in search of nesting-places. I should men- 

 tion that both the birds here treated of are resident 

 with us throughout the year, as, indeed, are all other 

 members of this active group of birds. Summer and 

 winter alike, their actions may be observed, but perhaps 

 to the best advantage when November's blasts have bared 

 the trees of their leafy covering : then we have the best 

 opportunity of observing the many, varied, and grotesque 

 attitudes they assume when searching for their prey. 



