2ip 



THE LONG-TAILED TIT. 

 (Acredula cauddta.) 



THIS is a true Tit, and never rests, but is hunting here 

 and there, slipping in and out, in constant movement, 

 from morning till night, now and then indulging in such 

 gymnastic exercises on the frailest twigs, as would by 

 comparison made the limb-dislocating mountebank look 

 a clumsy lout. Nothing can be more charming than 

 the society of which the Long-tailed Tit is the grand 

 master. It comprehends the Great-Tit, the Blue-Tit, and 

 the Coal-Tit, one or two tree runners, Spotted Wood- 

 peckers and a Nuthatch. The whole form a brigade of 

 workers, who rove through the woods and gardens, each 

 one working according to the measure of its strength. 

 They search a tree, from the bark to the point of the thin 

 topmost twig, where the Long-Tailed one is quite at 

 home, so light a featherweight is his body the twig 

 bends, but does not break, and the tail acts as its balanc- 

 ing pole. This society gathers at the same hour at the 

 same place, in the late autumn, in order to seek fresh 

 places. The note of the Long-Tailed Tit sounds like 

 '' J e > J e > J e >" and " gey, gey, gey, gey." It lives on 

 injurious insects, and wherever it builds its nest in wood 

 or garden it is a priceless treasure. 



It is not rare in Hungary, and deserves to be protected. 



There are various forms of the Long-tailed Titmouse 

 in Europe; our own form is fairly common in localities 

 which suit its mode of living. It is resident and common 

 in Ireland, but very local in its occurrence in Scotland* 

 These Tits often rear two broods in a season, and 

 afterwards the whole family may be seen flitting about 



