Nenly-Bedfed Great Tiu. 



THE GREAT TIT, OR OXEYE 



T 



HE striking colours, lively 

 habits and oft-repeated 

 notes of this bird render 

 it familiar to everybody 

 who takes the slightest in- 

 terest in the science of 

 ornithology. It is the 

 largest member of the Tit- 

 mouse family found in Britain, and is 

 generally distributed wherever sheltered 

 woods and gardens are to be found. 



The male may readily be distinguished 

 from the female by his brighter colours 

 and the fact that the black line running 

 down the centre of his yellow breast is 

 broader and more pronounced than in 

 the case of his mate. 



The Great Tit feeds upon insects in 

 varying stages of development, seeds, 

 hazel nuts, and, alas, sometimes peas ! 

 Very frequently it may be seen and 

 heard in the late autumn and early 

 winter, holding a hazel nut down on 



a branch with its strong feet, whilst it 

 delivers a rapid succession of far-sound- 

 ing blows with its powerful bill in 

 order to split the shell. In such cir- 

 cumstances I have, on more than one 

 occasion, seen a nut slip from the grasp 

 of an Oxeye and, shooting off at a tan- 

 gent, strike some twig and roll beneath 

 a collection of dead leaves or down the 

 run of a mouse. After an accident of 

 this kind the disappointed bird will 

 search about for its lost treasure for a 

 little while, and then, resuming its 

 wonted cheerfulness, fly away in search 

 of more food. 



Every winter my children hang out 

 the kernels of Barcelona nuts threaded 

 upon black cotton, and it is amusing to 

 watch the Great Tit trying to emulate 

 the gymnastic feats of its smaller rela- 

 tive the " Blue Bonnet," which can 

 hang upside down whilst clinging to 

 the fruit, and feed even when twirled 



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