38 BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
which supports it ; interiorly it is lined with abundance of 
feathers, or soft down ; the form is oval appearing rather 
suspended, and from its form and warmth it m some dis- 
tricts, gains the popular appellation of 'Feather Pokes_ * 
Th; British form of the Long-tailed Titmouse has been 
granted subspecific rank as Acredula cavMta rosea (Blyth). 
The true A cau<Mta cavMta, found throughout northern 
Europe, is distinguished by the greater purity and extent 
of the white colouring of the head, and it has not yet been 
ascertained whether both forms occur in the county. 
THE BRITISH GREAT TITMOUSE. 
Parus major newtoni, Prazak. 
Local names— Geeater Blackcap ; Oxee ; Oxeyb. 
A common resident. 
Writing collectively of the titmice Mr. Fred V. Theobald 
^ys, that in spite of a few errors in their ways. AH seem 
agre;d that the Tits do much good, for they hunt summer and 
winter for insects. The mussel scale, codling moth, woolly 
aphis, etc., are their especial favourites, and the good they 
do in this way is incalculable."t " Mabie ^os^ ' fj;"^! 
to the quantity of bumble bees found dead under the lime 
trees each year when that tree is i^^^Jl^^^; ^escrite^^^^ 
great havoc this bird causes amongst them thus . Having 
lot hold of them somehow, it places them on the upper 
surface of a branch, holds the bee a moment with one foot 
and havmg taken a peck which brings of t^e mterior o 
the thorax, lets the remainder of the body fall to the 
ground."$ Apiarists well know the persistent way in which 
« Nat. Lib., 1839, Vol. XI., p. 180. 
Science Progress, 1907, Vol. II., p. 277. 
t Dum/riee Courier and Herald, July 30th, 1896. 
