58 BRITISH BIRDS’ EGGS. 
Famiry PARID-A. 
GREAT TIT. 
Parus mason, Linn. 
Pl. X., figs. 19, 20. 
Geogr. distr.—Throughout the Palearctic Region; common in 
Great Britain, perhaps least so iu the north of Scotland; resident 
in England. 
Food.—Seeds, nuts, insects, larve, eggs, and brains of small birds. 
Nest.—A bed of hair, wool, or feathers, upon a thick foundation of 
dried grass or moss. 
Position of nest.—In holes in aged forest trees, or in walls of 
gardens or shrubberies; sometimes behind detached planking of houses 
or arbours. 
Number of eggs.—6-8; usually 6. 
Time of nidification.—V-V1; May. 
The Great Tit has been known to nest under a garden 
pot, the inside of a pump, or even the deserted nest of 
some larger bird; I have, however, found it myself only in 
a hole in the side of an aged tree, which was wholly filled 
up with the mossy mass; the eggs, six in number, are 
almost pure white, the spots upon them being unusually 
small. 
The note of the Great Tit has been likened to the sharp- 
ening of a saw; it is, however, so exactly the sound made 
by the ungreased wheel of a loaded barrow when rapidly 
propelled, that as a boy I always recognised it by the name 
of ‘‘ Wheelbarrow bird ;’ indeed, when I first took notice of 
the sound, I for some time believed that it was thus 
mechanically produced, and was not a little surprised to 
discover that it was the note of a bird. Considering how 
abundant the Great Tit is, even occurring in London 
gardens and churchyards, it is surprising that one does not 
more frequently find its nest. 
