'3 2 



THE BIRDS OF THE WOODS 



to the Caucasus, being unknown beyond the Volga and the Urals. Although it 

 keeps, as a rule, to the upper boughs of high trees, it is also seen in low bushes, 

 and in the spring even on the ground Except at nesting-time, it is seldom alone, 

 being generally in company with other tits and goldcrests ; the various species 

 forming large parties, the leaders of which seem to be the crested tits. Although 

 mainly a resident species, in spring and autumn it may wander about, often at 



THE CRESTED TITMOD8E. 



some distance from stretches of woodland, but always sheltering in firs and bushes. 

 The nest is in a hole in a decayed tree, which the bird often makes itself, or in the 

 abandoned habitation of a magpie or squirrel ; the materials being moss and wool 

 roughly felted together. During nesting-time this tit eats insects and their larva?, 

 but in autumn and spring its food consists of pine and other seeds and berries. The 

 song is neither loud nor varied, resembling somewhat that of the goldcrest. The 

 white-tipped crest sufficiently distinguishes this bird from the other members of 

 the group. 



