68 
Wild Birds Useful and Injurious. 
post, and proceed to scrutinise its four sides. Before the bird 
crossed the road to try another post, I saw him deliberately 
squint through the round hole left for the gas-burner, in order 
to assure himself that no insects were left lurking in the in- 
terior.” The benefit conferred by this and other species of tits 
is immense, and any mischief they may do is comparatively 
insignificant. 
The nest of the blue tit, chiefly composed of moss and 
feathers, is hidden in some hole in a wall or tree, occasionally 
close to the ground, or in the deserted nest of another bird, in 
a pump, letter-box, lamp-post, or other convenient receptacle. 
When the nest is inspected, the parent bird does not evince 
any inclination to leave her treasure, but, on the contrary, puffs 
out her feathers, and, hissing like a snake, pecks most valiantly 
at the intruding finger. 
The Great Tit (Paras major ), often called the Ox-eye, Black- 
cap, or Saw-sharpener (fig. 5), is a handsomely-marked bird, 
nearly six inches in length. The top of the head is black, the 
cheeks are white, the upper surface is chiefly greyish-blue, and 
the under parts yellow, with a conspicuous black band running 
centrally from the chin to the tail. Its notes are varied and 
defy description, except that certain of them resemble the sound 
made in sharpening a saw, and hence one of the local names 
assigned to this species. The site selected for the nest is most 
commonly a hole in a wall or decaying tree, but, as in the case 
of the blue tit, many other situations are occasionally chosen ; 
thus I have known the burrow of a sand-martin tenanted by a 
pair of great tits. 
The food of the great tit is somewhat varied, but consists 
chiefly of insects, which it obtains much after the manner of the 
blue tit. Like that species, it occasionally robs bee-keepers of 
the inmates of their hives. It has also been known to pull 
straws out of thatch for the purpose of getting at lurking 
insects, and Gilbert White watched one occupied in this manner, 
to his “no small delight and admiration,” though whether the 
owner of the thatch equally appreciated the little bird’s intelli- 
gence is not recorded. Insects, however, do not constitute the 
whole of its diet, for yew berries, the kernels of beechmast and 
hazel nuts, and other vegetable food come under its notice. It 
has even been known to kill small birds, though it is usually in 
captivity that this propensity is developed. 
The Coal Tit ( Pants ater, fig. 6) is slightly smaller than the 
blue tit, being about four inches and a quarter in length. Its 
back is olive-grey, the wings dark-grey with two white lines 
across them, the tail dark -grey, the breast greyish-white, and 
