THE TIT. 183 



The Long-Tailed Tits keep more to the woods, 

 and may be found in companies. This most 

 diminutive bird with its soft fluffy plumage is 

 clearly marked out from the other Tits by its 

 very long tail. They are quite as restless as 

 their larger brethren, and may be found in dense 

 thickets during summer and in families on the 

 higher trees during winter. On cold nights they 

 crowd together on a branch, evidently for the 

 sake of warmth, as also do the young Wrens. 



The Tits are members of a family, the genus 

 Parus, and all possess distinctive characteristics. 

 They are partly migratory, appearing at times 

 more numerous in winter than in summer, caused 

 probably by the absence or presence of food. 

 They get the credit of destroying Bees, and in 

 illustration of this I may quote an observer's 

 remarks that appeared in the Zoologist in 

 1876 : " These birds have long been known to 

 frequent the bee-hives to get the Bees ; it is 

 during the winter and early spring that they 

 do so. I am not quite certain that they take 



