GREATER TITMOUSE. 
15.9 
to men, and animals, and birds of rapine, besides various 
other casualties. They return during Marcli and April, and 
from that time are only found in pairs in the woods. In 
Holland, where these migrations also take place, they are 
taken in great numbers in autumn, by birdcatchers, when 
on the watch for other birds. 
These birds are found alike on hills and plains, provided 
the character of the country is sylvan. Their habits are 
restless and busy in the extreme, and they are very rarely seen 
sitting still for any length of time ; and although they do 
not want for courage, they have the sagacity to avoid any 
place where they have met with danger or disturbance, for 
which reason they seldom construct a second nest in a spot 
from which their first has been taken, although, when undis¬ 
turbed, they are known frequently to return, and build again 
in the hole or sheltered corner in which they have brought up 
their brood of the preceding year. They fight and quarrel 
much with their neighbours, even at large, but when caged 
they are dangerous companions to other small birds, whom 
they pursue and harass, and on the first opportunity destroy, 
by striking them on the head with their powerful bills, and 
then feasting on their brains. The flight of this species 
is rather laborious, performed in inverted arches, and low 
when passing only from tree to tree ; but they fly higher in 
the air when on their migratory passage. 
The food of the Greater Titmouse consists of seeds, fruits, 
insects and their larvse, and, like most other birds, their 
chief occupation is seeking for it : for this purpose they are 
indefatigable in their investigations among old trees, which 
afford so many hidden retreats for them in their cavities 
and bark. In winter they frequent orchards, much for the same 
purpose ; also farmyards, for the sake of the scattered grain. 
The nest of this species is invariably placed in a hole in 
a tree or wall, or in a crevice of a rock, and its construction 
