LONG-TAILED TIT 



Acrediila can data 



HE Long-tailed Tit is a common and widely distributed 

 resident in England, and is to be found in most woods, 

 plantations, and hedgerows. In Scotland and Ireland 

 it is much more locally distributed, but may often be 

 seen in the more open parts of the woods and in small 

 thickets. 



It is perhaps the most interesting to watch of all the 



Tits, especially during the winter, when they fly along some tall hedgerow 

 or line of trees in a family, eagerly searching each twig and branch for the 

 insects on which they feed. They do not, as a rule, associate with any of 

 the other Tits, but prefer to make their own family party. They are very 

 restless little birds, and seem to be always on the move, perpetually hunting 

 each tree for insects, or catching the gnats as they dance in the air among 

 the branches, during which latter performance they hang suspended in the 

 air, tail downwards, with their little wings moving rapidly, taking their prey 

 afterwards to some twig to devour. They may be seen all over the tree, 

 some up in the top, mere tiny dots, others busily searching the lowest twigs, 

 or even the undergrowth beneath the tree; then they begin to leave the tree 

 one at a time, never very far away from each other, flying along slowly with 

 their curious undulating flight, uttering their call-note ' Zee-zec-zee-krr-kjrrrj 

 which once heard is not often forgotten. 



When the pairing season sets in, the families of Long-tailed Tits break 

 up and disperse to seek nesting-places among the woods, plantations, and 

 bushes. The Long-tailed Tit unlike its congeners builds a nest in the 

 branches of trees or bushes, certainly the most beautifully constructed nest 

 of any bird in the British Islands. It may be found in the fork of an 

 elm-tree or a lichen-covered oak, or in the top of a blackthorn, juniper, or 

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