COURAGE OF SMALLER ANIMALS 147 



to leave the eggs. But in the majority of cases there 

 is ample room in the hollow for the little bird to 

 shift to one side, or leave altogether by another 

 entrance. But it scarcely ever chooses to do this. 

 It is not difficult to realise the terrors which the tiny 

 little tit so boldly faces. She sees an enormous arm, 

 some ten times larger round than her own body, 

 coming slowly towards her with outstretched fingers, 

 exactly as the story-books represent the hand of the 

 giant stretched out to catch Tom Thumb. She abides 

 its awful approach without shrinking, and attacks it 

 with all the courage of the Giant-killer himself. The 

 great tit, cole-tit, and marsh-tit are nearly, though 

 not quite, as courageous. 



We remember no other British bird which equals 

 them, except perhaps the puffin. But as the puffin 

 has no means of escape when her hole is discovered, 

 she naturally fights and bites " for all she is worth " 

 before allowing herself to be pulled out, or leaving 

 her eggs. Jackdaws, on the other hand, which, like 

 the tits, build in holes, but are large and strong birds, 

 do not attempt to defend their eggs against man ; and 

 though owls sometimes offer a sleepy, semi-somnolent 

 resistance, they make little more than a formal protest 

 against ejectment. 



That any bird should have the courage to do so 

 is sufficiently remarkable ; but the courage of the 

 diminutive species is the more astonishing because 

 most small birds have highly nervous temperaments. 

 Their courage is not the result of low brain-power. 

 They thoroughly realise what danger is, and suffer 



