GREATER TITMOUSE. 
161 
The eo’ors of the Greater Titmouse are of a short oval form, 
eight lines and a half long, and six and a half broad ; they 
are white, with very little polish, freckled with many pale 
lilac and reddish-brown spots over the whole surface ; rather 
fullest at the larger end. The young birds, after they can 
fly, follow their parents for a considerable time, and are care¬ 
fully fed by them ; they may sometimes be seen sitting upon 
apple and other fruit trees in an orchard, waiting for the 
expected supply of food ; they sit shivering, in the manneT 
of other young birds, with their wings drooping, and uttering 
a shrill cry, like shreep ! shreep ! The parents, whose note, 
when so engaged, resembles tsip ! seek for their food among 
the mossy branches and curled leaves, and appear to bring 
them small caterpillars. The young birds may, for some 
time, be distinguished from the old ones by their smaller 
size and duller plumage. The roosting places of these birds 
are usually holes in walls or trees, or beneath the tiles of 
roofs, where a broken corner gives them admittance, and they 
often roost several together. 
The notes of this bird are various. Early in spring he 
is heard to say eeclu! eeclu ! eeclu ! and by degrees adds 
many more words to his vocabulary. Among them are stitty! 
stitty ! and britty ! britty ! he also says sitseeda I and, when 
surprised or in fear, pronounces seeterrrr ! and jnnk, pink, 
pink! like the chaffinch, but in a louder tone and more fre¬ 
quently repeated, the chaffinch seldom saying it but once, 
or, at most, twice at a time. But his favourite note is 
seedidip I seedidip I which is pronounced with such rapidity 
and so many times in succession, that the bird is out of 
breath, and all his hearers are in the same condition. The 
notes are all in a high key, sharp and metallic. 
The entire length of the Greater Titmouse is nearly six 
inches. The wing measures, from the carpus to the tip, 
three inches ; the first quill-feather is narrow and pointed. 
