138 



VERTEBRATA. 



THE BLUE TIT. 



amatory notes of tlie male may be heard, sometimes resembling the noise made in sharpening a 

 saw. The nest, formed of moss, and lined with hair and feathers, is usually placed in the hollow 

 of a tree, or the hole in a wall. The eggs are from six to nine in number. This species is a con- 

 stant resident throughout the different parts of Europe. 



The Blue Tit, P. cceruleus, is an exceedingly common species, distributed like the preceding 

 throughout Europe. Its length is four and a half inches. Its body is variously marked with 

 blue, black, and white. It usually builds in a hole in a wall or a tree, the nest being made up 

 of a profusion of moss, hay, and feathers. The eggs vary from six to twelve. If its nest is in- 

 vaded by a school-boy, the bird hisses like a snake or an angry kitten. If the ravagcr perseveres 

 he is sure to have his hand severely bitten. Hence one of the popular names of this bird in Eng- 

 land is Billy-bitcr. It is reproached by the gardeners for destroying the buds of plants, and hence 

 many of them arc killed. 



The Crested Tit, P. cristatus, is four and a half inches long, its colors black and brown above, 

 and whitish-fawn below. It is a northern species, being common in Denmark, Sweden, Russia, 

 and also in the mountainous and wood-covered portions of Germany and Switzerland. 



The Bearded Tit, P. biarmicus, is a little over six inches long, and is one of the larger spe- 

 cies; it is fawn-color above, and grayish-white, tinged with yellow, below. It has beneath the 

 base of the beak, on each side, a beard or whisker — three feathers of one inch long. It is com- 

 mon in Middle Europe. 



The CoAL-TiT, P. ufer, is four and a half inches long, and is variously colored with black, 

 white, brown, green, and gray. It is an exceedingly pretty bird, roving from tree to tree in search 

 of insects and seeds, sometimes associating in flocks with other small birds. They are widely dis- 

 tributed throughout Europe, and are residents all the year in the temperate portions of it. 



The Marsh'Tit, P.jmliistris, is of the size of the preceding. It is ashy-brown, tinged with green, 

 above ; the under prrts grayish-white. It is common in certain localities throughout Europe, 

 and like most of the spe2ies we have described, is plentiful in the vicinity of London. 



The Long-tailed Tit, P. caudatus, is the most noted of the species. It is about five and a 

 half inches long, half that length consisting of its tail. It is black above, the under surface gray- 

 ish-white. The various names which this species has acquired in England is good evidence of its 

 notoriety: Bottle- Tit, Bottle-Tom, Long-tailed Farmer, Long-Tail Mag, Long-Tail Pie, Poke- 



