118 SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR BIRD STUDY. 



garbage (?) from kitchen midden ; 10 lots of unidentified 

 insects." 



On the other hand, it is clear that starlings do consider- 

 able harm to fruit when ripening, e.g. cherries, apples, and 

 pears. They also are blamed for destroying young wheat, 

 and in winter they may do considerable damage to stacked 

 corn. On the whole, however, these birds must be con- 

 sidered of a decidedly useful type from the point of view 

 both of forestry and of agriculture. 



BLUE TIT (E.). A small bird, 4J to 4| inches long. 

 The bill is short, black, and pointed. The crown of the 

 head is light blue, encircled with a white band. Nape 

 and shoulders a darker blue, with two bands of the 

 same colour passing, the upper one across the eye, the 

 lower around the neck, and forming a triangular patch 

 almost black beneath the bill. The cheeks are white. The 

 back is yellowish green, flushed with blue, with a whitish 

 patch behind neck. Wings bluish, with a white transverse 

 band. The breast is pale yellow, mixed with whitish, with 

 a blue patch in middle. The tail is bluish ; narrow. Female 

 duller than male. 



The Blue Tit feeds on small insects such as green fly and 

 scale insects ; the young are fed on grubs and caterpillars. 

 It attacks fruit buds and is very fond of pears. On the 

 whole, though destructive to certain kinds of fruit, blue tits 

 are serviceable birds in the garden, keeping down the 

 smaller types of insect pest. 



This bird, if supplied with a lump of suet or coco-nut 

 suspended from pole or tree, to which it comes readily in 

 winter, makes an interesting study. It frequently makes 

 use of nesting boxes placed in the garden ; ordinarily it 

 nests in holes of a tree, wall, etc. The eggs, which may 

 be over ten in number, are about f inch long, whitish, 

 speckled with light reddish brown, which may be mostly 

 massed at the broad end. 



There are six different species of Tits occurring in 

 Britain and all are useful as destroyers of garden insect 

 pests, especially of the smaller forms and their eggs, 

 which are apt to be overlooked by larger birds. 



