Passeres 43 



is now confined in Britain to the Broads and Devonshire, 

 but used to breed in other of the eastern and southern 

 counties, and ranges abroad from temperate Europe to 

 central Asia or even Manchuria, though limited by the 

 fact that it requires large reed-beds to dwell in. These 

 it seldom leaves even in the hardest weather, and there 

 pairs or little parties may be seen by anyone who punts 

 slowly past their haunts, flitting along the tops of the 

 reeds, uttering their curious sharp note of "ping-ping," 

 and soon dropping down in the vegetation. This note 

 may even be heard in winter, and is only clearly audible 

 on a calm day ; in summer close observers may watch 

 the hen building her nest of broad sedges or reeds and 

 the cock bird supplying her with dry reed-flowers for the 

 lining. The site chosen is always on the ground among 

 the reeds, generally in open spots which hardly bear a 

 man's weight, and eggs may be found from April to 

 August ; they are round and white with delicate blackish 

 brown scrawls, and are about six in number. Many 

 nests are cut over by the marshmen. The food consists 

 chiefly of small mollusks and seeds of the reed, so that 

 in almost every particular this species differs from the 

 remainder of the Titmice, while its anatomy is certainly 

 not that of a Par us. It has been introduced of recent 

 years at Hornsea Mere in Yorkshire. 



Family PARID^I, or Tits 



Titmice are familiar winter-guests of the house- 

 holder, and are resident in our islands, or migrate to 

 a comparatively small extent ; in fact different scientific 

 names have been given to distinguish them from the 

 various continental or Asiatic forms. All but one belong 

 to the genus Parus, and in strictness should be called 



