46 Order I 



bird is known as the " Bottle-tit " or "Feather-poke." 

 After breeding these Tits keep in flocks, seeking for 

 insects and larvse, while they are more often seen than 

 heard, for their notes are gentle ; they fly pretty well, 

 though unsteadily. The extremely long tail distinguishes 

 them from other Tits, as does the black and white 

 coloration, relieved by a rosy rump and belly best seen 

 at close quarters. 



The remaining species of Titmouse are all similar in 

 their ways, flocking in winter, climbing about the trees, 

 prying about the bark or leaves for insect-food, and 

 laying from five to eight white eggs with bright red 

 spots. But in certain points they differ. The three 

 commonest are the Great, Coal, and Blue Tits, the Coal 

 Tit usually predominating in pine-woods, and the others 

 elsewhere. The Great Titmouse, or Oxeye (Parus major], 

 which becomes rare in the north and north-west of 

 Scotland, is sufficiently distinguished from its congeners 

 by the broad black stripe down the yellowish under 

 parts, though its black head and white cheeks are most 

 conspicuous. In different forms it breeds south of the 

 Arctic circle to the Mediterranean Islands, north-west 

 Africa, Palestine, Persia, Burma, China, and Japan, 

 while the British form has recently been separated from 

 the others. It makes a nest of moss, surmounted by 

 a felted mass of wool, fur and hair, in a hole in a tree 

 or wall, when it does not choose a pump, a wooden 

 letter-box, or other extraordinary situation. Its notes 

 are comparatively harsh, and a rasping cry of two 

 repeated notes which it often utters is commonly 

 mistaken for that of the Chiffchaff ; it also imitates the 

 voices of other birds. The Great Tit is no doubt guilty 

 of spoiling many fruit-buds, which may or may not 



