30 



Titmice. 



naturalist, Brocchi, in his Traite de Zoologic, says : " Knowing 

 the habits of these birds, it is easy to understand that they 

 should be ranged among the best helpers of agriculturists, 

 who sometimes entice them to frequent orchards and gardens 

 by making artificial nesting-places." Brocchi mentions also 

 that on a certain property where the fruit crop was regularly 

 devastated by insects, tits were attracted by artificial nests 

 distributed in great numbers throughout the orchards, and 

 that after the arrival of these birds the crops were abundant. 



The great tit is a beautiful bird about six inches long, and 

 usually builds its nest in holes in walls, trees, decayed posts, 

 and similar places. Its head and throat are glossy black, 

 with a white patch under each eye. Its back is olive, or 

 ashy green, and the body underneath is greenish yellow with 

 a broad stripe of black down its entire length. 



Not less beneficial is the long-tailed tit [Panes caudatus) 

 which is common in the south and south-western counties of 

 England, but not so common in the north. It is about four- 

 and a-half inches long, and sometimes builds a most elaborate 

 nest, shaped like a bottle, from which this bird is known 

 familiarly in some localities as the " bottle tom-tit ; " the nest, 

 w^hich is built in thick bushes or dense shrubs, has a very tiny 

 hole in the upper part of the side, and the eggs vary in number 

 from ten to sixteen. Yarrell holds that this bird is more 

 decidedly insectivorous even than the other species of tits. 

 Seebohm also remarks that its food is chiefly composed of 

 insects, but that it also eats small seeds of various kinds, as 

 of grasses and of the birch. Brocchi maintains that it feeds 

 entirely on insects in France and that it and all the species of 

 tits have a right to the protection of agriculturists, to whom 

 they render important services. He estimates the annual 

 consumption of each of these birds at nearly 200,000 insects 

 in the form of eggs and larvae, and remarks that when these 

 birds attack the buds of fruit trees, an offence with which they 

 are sometimes charged, it is certain that there are insects 

 within these buds. 



The head, breast and neck of the long-tailed tit are whitish, 

 with black bands or stripes. The back is black, and the 

 wings and the very long tail are black edged with white. 



