THE COLE TIT. 447 



rare, however, in the northern parts of the latter country. THOMP- 

 SON reports that it is indigenous to Ireland. We must content 

 ourselves with a very short extract from MTJDIE'S account of this 

 bird : " The Great Tit has a chattering rather than a singing 

 voice ; but it has considerable flexibility of utterance. As it 

 hunts in the trees, its chatter, though not loud, is harsh and 

 grating, resembling that which is produced by the filing of iron ; 

 but in the pairing time it has a note not very dissimilar to that of 

 the Chaffinch ; and the alternation of the note with the chatter, 

 makes a sort of rude song, but that song continues but a short 

 time." 



" The Great Titmouse," says WHITE, " driven by stress of 

 weather, much frequents houses; and in deep snows, I have seen 

 this bird, while it hung with its back downwards (to my no small 

 delight and admiration), draw straws lengthwise from out the 

 eaves of thatched houses, in order to pull out the flies that were 

 concealed between them, and that in such numbers, that they 

 quite defaced the thatch, and gave it a ragged appearance." 



We will conclude our account of this bird, with a charac- 

 teristic little sketch from the letters of B/TTSTICTJS on the Natural 

 History of Godalming : " The next object of attention was a 

 Titmouse, of the large black-headed kind, swinging himself 

 about like a rope-dancer, and whistling out his sing-song just 

 like a fellow sharpening a saw. To my surprise, the gentleman 

 entered an old Magpie's nest, to which I had paid frequent 

 friendly visits during the previous spring ; he immediately came 

 out again, and jumped about, sharpening his saw as before. 

 One might almost as well handle a hedgehog as a Magpie's 

 nest ; in this instance, some cuttings of gooseberry bushes, skil- 

 fully interwoven into an arch above it, rendered it rather more 

 untempting than usual. I was meditating how to commence the 

 attack, when another Tomtit flew out in a great choler, and 

 rated at me as though I had already robbed her. After a good 

 deal of trouble, during which the slender fir-top was swinging 

 about with me in the breeze, I succeeded in obtaining a peep 

 into the nest ; there was nest within nest ; the cosiest, softest, 

 warmest little nest, with eight delicately speckled eggs, at the 

 bottom of the Magpie's more spacious habitation. I declined 

 meddling with them j whether on account of the awkwardness of 

 my situation, or the intervening gooseberry bushes, or the 

 cruelty, I will not say." 



174. THE COLE TIT. 



Parus Ater, LIN. Petite Charbonniere, BUF. Die Tanenmeise, BECH. 

 Description. The Cole Tit is four inches and two lines in 



