THE BLUE TITMOUSE 211 



bark, as a perfect beetle. By this small creature's labours 

 the bark is separated to such an extent from the tree that 

 it cannot live long. A plague of other small wood-boring 

 beetles of like habits destroyed 1,500,000 trees in the 

 Harz Forest one season, when the priests even prayed 

 in their churches for relief from this awful pest. And 

 yet there are still numbers of country gardeners who 

 look upon the Blue-tit, especially, as one of their worst 

 enemies. 



A house with large grounds in our populous London 

 suburb is a large boys' school a private one. One day I 

 saw a pretty sight, one that did credit to the character of 

 the boys there. Between the playground and the cricket 

 field is an iron fence, having a wide gate. For some 

 time this has not been properly closed, and just within 

 the hole in the tubular iron post, into which the fastening 

 bolt ought to run, a pair of Blue-Tits have their nest. 

 As I approached it, a number of gaping mouths were 

 thrust up for food. As the nestlings are fed with aphides 

 and gooseberry moths and the old birds have a large 

 family to feed, and they prey also on grubs and maggots, 

 it is well for the vegetable garden close by. 



About sixty boys pass noisily to and fro through this 

 gateway during play-hours, but the wise parents think 

 they know better than to feed them in the sight of these. 

 All is done during school time and early in the morning. 



A friend tells me that he knows of a Blue-Tit's nest in 

 an exactly similar position. When the bird was sitting 

 he kicked the bottom of the iron post, and put his finger 

 in the hole. Up flew the bold little creature, hissing 

 like a snake, and bit vigorously at it, fully justifying 

 her rural nickname of Billy-biter. 



