500 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



The Conirostral Passerines include the family of Parida, or Tits^ 

 The Titmice, as they are sometimes called, are small birds, seldom 

 attaining the size of the Common Sparrow. Their general form is 

 moderately full, the head large in proportion a,nd broadly ovate. 

 Their bill is straight, short, and tapering, furnished with hairs at 

 the base, but their individuality is distinguished by their specific 

 peculiarities rather than by physiognomy. A characteristic feature 

 is their audacity, almost approaching to impudence, and their 

 courage, the instinctive result of their sociability. These qualities 

 secure for them a well-defined place in the group that we have under 

 consideration. 



Who discovers the Owl during the day ? Who besieges him with 

 its clamours ? Who pursues him with unintermitting blows of his 

 bill ? Who rouses the whole tribe of small birds against the nocturnal 

 tyrant ? It is the Titmouse. Bellicose as bird can be, it gives full 

 scope to its most warlike instincts whenever a suitable occasion pre- 

 sents itself, its want of physical power being compensated for by the 

 vigour of its assault. The Tit is, indeed, the incarnation of motion ; 

 it is continually on the qui vive, skipping from branch to branch, at 

 one moment piercing the crevices of the bark with its bill in search 

 of food, the next hanging suspended from a branch, to which it clings 

 with its claws, while it picks off the insects which occupy the lower 

 surface of the leaves. 



Nevertheless, it varies its food according to seasons and circum- 

 stances. It devours not only all kinds of insects, not excepting 

 wasps and bees, but even cereals and fruits. It is even carnivorous, 

 for it has been known to kill weak or sickly birds in order to devour 

 them. Some species have a most unnatural partiality for grease, and 

 eat it whenever opportunity offers. They are sociable birds, inhabit- 

 ing thickets or woods, living in flocks the greater part of the year, 

 and showing strong attachment to each other, so that a flock will 

 suffer decimation rather than desert a wounded companion. In the 

 spriiig they pair, when each couple seeks out a suitable place in 

 which to rear their progeny. 



The position of the nest varies with the species. The Great Tit 

 (Parus major) builds in the hole of some wall, or in a cavity formed 

 in a decayed tree ; it is usually composed of moss, hair, and 

 feathers. The Blue Tit {P. cceruleus) occasionally builds its nest in 

 very insecure places. Mr. Duncan, one of Mr. McGillivray's corres- 

 pondents, in a MS. note now before us, says, "In the year 1836 I 

 discovered the nest of a pair of Blue Tits in the shaft of a pump well, 

 which was drenched and partly carried away every time water was 



