132 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



hear in the distance the approach of a party of Tits and to see 

 them pass along with some of their friends, the Creepers, within 

 a few yards' distance. Like the Bullfinches and Chaffinches, 

 the Tits are not regarded by gardeners with a friendly eye, on 

 account of the number of buds which they are said to destroy 

 in the spring, but they are generally most useful birds, and 

 devour a vast number of insects, the young being entirely fed 

 on grubs and small caterpillars. 



Nest. This is often an extraordinary structure. It is always 

 placed in a hole, generally of a wall, or in a tree, and Mr. 

 Seebohm says that the deserted nests of Crows and Magpies 

 are sometimes utilised, while it is occasionally found among 

 the sticks in the foundation of Rooks' nests, and, according 

 to Mr. Dixon's observations, it has been known to nest in a 

 hole in the ground. The variation in the nesting place of the 

 Great Tit is altogether extraordinary, for, while Montague asserts 

 that the eggs are sometimes deposited on the powdered wood 

 at the bottom of a hole without any attempt at a nest, there is 

 no bird, which, for its size, can build a more laborious structure. 

 Given a hollow, no matter of what dimensions, the Great Tit 

 will accumulate materials and fill it up to within a short dis- 

 tance of the top. There is a certain railing in Hyde Park where 

 a defect in the iron -work has left a small hole in one of the 

 posts. This is the annual nesting place of a pair of these little 

 birds. Some day, we have no doubt, the interior of this 

 post will be found to be filled nearly to the brim with moss, 

 and we have no hesitation in betraying the secret of the birds, 

 as it will not easily be detected, and it was only by accident 

 that we discovered the nesting place. Passing in a cab, we 

 saw a Great Tit alight on the post, and, apparently surmising 

 that we were not likely to arrest our journey to search for its 

 nest, the bird turned sharply round, and disappeared like a 

 flash of lightning backwards down the hole. 



An instance has been known where a pair of Great Tits 

 built a nest in a disused pump, and gradually filled up the 

 inside of the latter for several feet with moss. Another 

 curious selection of a nesting place is to be seen in the Natural 

 History Museum at South Kensington. The bird selected the 

 inside of a wooden post-box at Rowfant, in Sussex, and occupied 



