THE TITMOUSE FAMILY 



V 



^:-^m^ Diirlno- tlic first rainy days of October, 



tLi^^s^/^ when windows however yet remain open, I 



^ could hear the low warbling- of the titmice in 

 the pines and firs of the garden. They had 

 come there in troops ever since Michaelmas, 

 and they were actively engaged in picking 

 spindle-trees, yews and larches. Ever alert, 

 they flutter about from one group of trees to anothci-, 

 skipping on the branches, turning the leaves, climbing 

 along the bark, suspending themselves with their back 

 downwards, so as to be able to pick more easily the cre- 

 vices in the bark, whcic they know that worms and in- 

 sects hide their chrysalis. 



All these titmice differ in colour, size and general 



