158 CHARACTERS OF VERTEBRATE ANIMALS 



specially characteristic of the northern hemisphere, are found in 

 most parts of the world. The beak is short and conical, and 

 the first wing-quill is never more than half the length of the 

 second one. These birds inhabit trees, and chiefly feed on 

 insects, though vegetable food is by no means disdained. A 

 meat-bone or partly-opened cocoa-nut placed outside the window 

 of a house is almost certain to attract any tits which may be in 

 the neighbourhood. 



The best-known British species is the Blue Titmouse (Parus 

 cceruleus), which possesses extremely beautiful plumage, exhibiting 

 shades of blue, yellow, yellowish-green, and white. It ranges 

 throughout most of Europe, and is abundant in Asia Minor. 



The other native forms are: Coal-Tit (Parus ater); Crested Tit (P. cristatus)', 

 Great Tit (P. major)-, Marsh Tit (P. palustris); Long-tailed Tit (Acredula caudatd). 



15. Shrikes make up a fairly large family of tree-inhabiting 

 birds which have their head-quarters in Africa, though they are 

 found in all parts of the world, except South America and New 

 Zealand. Their food consists of insects, and also in some cases 

 of small vertebrates, and in accordance with this the beak is 

 strong and often somewhat hooked. 



The most abundant British species is the Red-backed Shrike 

 (Lani^t,s collurio], the plumage of which is mainly chestnut above 

 and buff on the under side. Like other " butcher-birds ", as these 

 forms are often called, this form has the habit of impaling its 

 victims upon sharp thorns. Its range includes most of Europe, 

 South-west and Central Asia, and in winter it is found as far south 

 as the Cape. Another native form is the great Grey Shrike 

 (L. excubitor). 



1 6. Thmshes and Warblers together constitute an enormous 

 group of cosmopolitan birds distinguished for their powers of 

 song. The beak is slender and bent a little at the end, and the 

 first wing-quill is very short. Some feed entirely on insects, but 

 others eat berries and the like as well. The plumage is quiet in 

 colour, and there is not much difference in this respect between 

 the sexes. 



Thriishes are stoutly - built omnivorous birds, in which the 

 young differ from the adults in their spotted plumage. They are 

 commonest in South America, but are found in all parts of the 

 world, except Madagascar and New Zealand. 



