PARID^. 



other trees, and equally busily picking the buds 

 themselves to pieces and eating the germ. 



Yarrell says this bird will frequently kill other 

 birds smaller than itself, accomplishing its purpose 

 by repeated blows of its hard and sharp beak on the 

 skull of the victim, and afterwards pick out and eat 

 the brains. 



The nest of the Great Tit is generally in a hole in 

 a wall or tree : Yarrell says also the deserted nest of 

 a Crow or a Magpie is sometimes chosen : the mate- 

 rials used are moss, hair and feathers ; but Hewitson 

 says the eggs are sometimes laid upon rotten wood 

 alone. 



The Great Tit has the beak black ; irides dusky 

 brown ; cheeks and ear-coverts white ; head and 

 throat black, glossed with blue, which colour quite 

 surrounds the white on the cheeks ; there is a small 

 spot of white on the nape ; rest of the neck, the back 

 and scapulars olive-green ; tail-coverts greyish blue ; 

 lesser wing-coverts dusky, broadly margined with 

 greyish blue and tipped with white, making a white 

 bar across the wing ; primary and secondary quills 

 dusky, slightly edged with greyish blue; tertials 

 dusky, rather broadly edged with olive -green and 

 dull white ; tail-feathers dusky, much tinged with 

 greyish blue, especially towards the base the out- 

 side feather on each side has the outer web white, 

 and part of the inner web towards the end the same ; 

 breast and belly yellow, tinged with green ; a black 



