THE GREAT TIT. 391 



exterior webs of the outer feathers white. Under part, with 

 the exception of the black mesial line, sulphur yellow ; and 

 the under tail coverts white. The colours of the female are 

 similar, only less brilliant in their tints. 



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 

 only for a short time. 



The birds pair in February, and soon after retire to a little 

 greater distance from houses than that at which they are 

 found in the cold weather ; but they may still be found in 

 gardens and copses, though they keep more in the close 

 foliage than many other birds. 



As, during summer, trees are the abode and pasture of the 

 great tits, they prefer holes in trees as nesting-places, when 

 these are to be found in their locality ; and if the tree be in 

 a state of dew, so that it can be chiselled by the stroke of 

 their bills, they trim., and probably sometimes wholly exca- 

 vate, nesting-plices for themselves. If the trees do not afford 

 a proper place, they will nestle in the holes of walls, and 

 trim the mortar if there, to suit their purpose ; and in young 

 plantations which afford neither, they sometimes form their 

 nests in the thick herbage which surrounds the root of a 

 young fir ; but in these they nestle less frequently than in 

 the others. Th3 quantity of materials in the nest varies with 

 the situation. In a deep hole of a tree, which is warm and 

 sheltered, there Is sometimes little else than chips of wood 

 which the birds Jtave detached ; but in more exposed situa- 

 tions the nest is formed of moss, and lined with hair and 

 feathers. The ejgs are numerous, often as many as ten or 



