CRESTED TIT 



Par us cnstatus 



HE Crested Tit is one of our rarer native birds, and although 

 it is a resident in the British Islands it is very local, and 

 seldom strays beyond the area to which its haunts are 

 confined. Its only known breeding-grounds in our Islands 

 are in Scotland, in Strathspey and the surrounding counties 

 of Inverness and Aberdeen. In winter it is a little more 

 widely distributed, but authenticated instances of its occur- 

 rence beyond the above-mentioned area are few and far between. 



The Crested Tit is not a migrating bird, though in the autumn and 

 winter it wanders from its native pine woods where it has reared its young, 

 and is often met with in the woods and plantations, or even in the gardens 

 and along the hedgerows, in the districts in which it breeds. 



In winter Crested Tits are gregarious, and are generally met with in flocks, 

 associating with small parties of Coal Tits ; sometimes with a few Blue Tits also, 

 but as a rule with the former species. They are most energetic little birds, 

 hopping from twig to twig, or hanging on to the pine-cones in search of insects, 

 often running up the rough bark of the pines like the Creeper, and hunting for 

 grubs and beetles in the crevices. They usually keep pretty much together, and 

 when one bird leaves a tree the rest of the party soon follow. They are easily 

 distinguished from their congeners, the Coal Tits, by their curious note, ' tur- 

 ur-re-re-ree,' which is repeated so rapidly that it forms a sort of trill. They 

 have also the usual call- note, ' zee-zee-zee ,' which is common to most of the Tit 

 family. Although the Coal Tits in these flocks may frequently be seen hopping 

 about among the heather and blackberry bushes which form a carpet to the 

 pine woods, the Crested Tit is rarely if ever seen on the ground. It prefers 

 the tops of the pines, and it may often be recognised by the silhouette of its 

 crest against the sky as it hangs under some fir-cone in search of food. 



VOL. II. 2 D IOI 



