THE GREAT TIT. 393 



the point of it terminates in four filaments, by which a very- 

 small object could be embraced. It is also probably used in 

 picking aphides from the leaves and tender shoots. 



Trees growing near rank places are preferred to those that 

 stand upon a clear surface, as they abound more in t insects; 

 and the great tits may often be seen watching an opening 

 through which there is a current, or even attacking the bees 

 as they leave or return to a hive ; but the little thieves are 

 so clever that, even on the latter occasions, one can hardly 

 bear to drive them off. 



When the house-flies become languid in the autumn, the 

 tits capture them in vast numbers : and when insects fail, 

 they make prize of the autumnal spiders. In the dead sea- 

 son, when insect life is chiefly in the egg, though they hunt 

 for the eggs with great diligence, yet they do not find in 

 them a sufficient supply of food. At that time, they pick up 

 nuts, acorns, and the capsular fruits of other trees, hold them 

 in their claws, and hammer away with the bill, till the hardest 

 shell or toughest capsule is opened. They also eat the seeds 

 of the grasses, especially those that are of an oily nature, and 

 of such size that they can hold them with the foot, and pick 

 them open, for they do not grind or bruise with the edges of 

 the bill. They feed greedily upon carrion ; and when they 

 come upon other birds in a benumbed or exhausted state, 

 they dispatch and eat them, first breaking and then emptying 

 the skull. 



When the snow lies heavy on the ground, they approach 

 houses, and hunt about for any offal that may come in their 

 way. They are very partial to thatched roofs, as numbers of 

 the insects which remain dormant in the winter hide them- 

 selves there. The birds cling to the eaves with their back 

 undermost, and draw out the straws very dexterously and 

 expeditiously one after another, scrutinizing the whole length 

 as it passes ; and dropping them as soon as they are cleared, 



