THE LONG-TAILED TIT 
heart full of courage, and will boldly attack any 
bird that comes near his young. 
Both the father and the mother bird sit on the 
eggs until they are hatched, which generally happens 
in the early part of April. Then these good parents 
have a busy time indeed, catching the insects with 
which they feed their brood. About the end of 
June the young Tit becomes fledged, but not until 
November does he get the rose-red and black and 
white plumage of the full-grown bird, and the long 
black tail, edged with white, through which he gets 
his name. 
There could be no more friendly family than 
this. The father, mother and young ones live 
together through the summer, autumn and winter 
in perfect happiness. They do not quarrel, and 
often the nestlings may be seen, when they first 
leave the nest, all huddled together on the same 
branch of a tree. 
When April comes again, and the woods are 
merry with singing, the young Long-tailed Tits bid 
good-bye to their parents, and fly away to build 
more dainty nests, and bring up families of their 
own. ' 
II 
