70 
Wild Birds Useful and Injurious. 
colour is brownish-grey above and greyish-white beneath, 
relieved by a glossy black cap, but without the white nape which 
characterises the coal tit. Its brisk and sprightly actions at 
once proclaim it a tit, and, like its relatives, it spends most of 
its time hunting for insects, though various seeds — including 
those of the thistle, dog’s mercury, and honeysuckle — are also 
acceptable. The white berries of the snowberry shrub in 
gardens likewise offer attractions in the shape of the little 
kidney-shaped seeds which they contain. A loud tapping may 
Fig. 6.— Coal Tit, Parus aler. 
often be heard in the woods, which on investigation proves to 
be due to an energetic marsh tit engaged in cracking some hard 
seed for the sake of the kernel. Whilst hunting for its insect 
food it sometimes splits off flakes of the rough scaly bark of 
the Scotch fir and similar trees. This habit is probably shared 
by others of the family — in fact, the various species of tits are 
so fond of hunting in company, and resemble each other so 
nearly in the nature of their food, that they naturally acquire 
similar methods of obtaining their prey. 
A typical nest of this species, composed of moss, fur, and ft 
