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THE GREAT TITMOUSE. 

 (Parus major.) 



IN respect to usefulness and activity, this bird takes the 

 foremost place among the Tits : restless, noisy, and 

 always cheerful from morning to night. It clings to the 

 end of the twigs, head downwards, to look for insects 

 underneath the buds; it even climbs up w 7 alls if they are 

 rough and uneven. It slips into holes and crevices 

 which seem impossible of entry. It pursues insects 

 everywhere, and swallows them wholesale, as though it 

 could never be satisfied. It has no fear of men, but 

 comes confidently under the roof and perches on the gate, 

 or looks in at the window from the window^ sill. It is 

 courageous, even bold, and boundlessly inquisitive, a 

 trait which often places its life and liberty in peril. For 

 the sake of a little fat it will allow itself to be snared in 

 a gourd or other trap. But it is just these qualities that 

 make it so popular. 



Its voice sounds like " tzit " or " sitzida, sitzida." 

 This beautiful, kindly bird deserves every protection. 



Our sympathies are quite with this bright active 

 creature, although some of our English naturalists accuse 

 it of using its strong beak in order to split the skull of 

 small weakly birds so as to feast on their brains. It has 

 even been known to treat a Bat in this manner. We 

 recognise it readily in the early spring by its note which 

 is like the noise caused by the sharpening of a saw with 

 a file. 



Two years ago I saw the largest company of Tits 

 Great Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Marsh Tits and Crested 



