The engaging manners of the ' Blue Cap ' endear it to nearly everybody but the old-fashioned 



gardener." 



THE BLUE TIT 



T 



HIS is the best known and 

 most widely distributed 

 member of the Titmouse 

 family to be met with in the 

 British Islands, and al- 

 though only a wee frail 

 creature it is a bird of parts. 

 Amongst its most distin- 

 guishing characteristics may be men- 

 tioned beauty and boldness, whilst its 

 activity and cheerfulness are almost 

 phenomenal. Whether it be called upon 

 by the exigencies of Nature to enjoy a 

 feast or endure a famine, it always ap- 

 pears to make the best of everything. In 

 the summer-time males and females alike 

 work with the proverbial industry of 

 slaves for fifteen or sixteen hours a day, 

 finding and conveying insect food to the 

 members of a large family ; and in the 

 winter they may be seen hanging upside 

 down to the sodden branches of trees, 

 diligently examining every bud and 



23 177 



crevice for some lurking foe to vege- 

 tation. 



The engaging manners of the Blue 

 Cap, as the bird is frequently called, 

 endear it to nearly everybody but the 

 old-fashioned gardener, who is, alas, full 

 of prejudice, and far too ready to con- 

 demn upon evidence of the most super- 

 ficial character. I always urge these 

 men, when shooting birds they consider 

 enemies of the garden, to do three 

 things: (1) Dissect the victim and see 

 what has actually been eaten ; (2) weigh 

 well the harm done to bud and branch by 

 small shot ; (3) put the good done by a 

 bird at one season of the year into the 

 scales with the harm wrought at 

 another, and see how the account 

 stands. 



Apart from house sparrows and jays, 

 nearly all the loss I suffer in my garden I 

 can honestly put down to insects and 

 my own ignorance. I do not know how 



