PAETJS ATEICEPS. 
559 
moss-covered trunks and limbs of the rather stunted timber-trees of that elevation, and attentively scrutinizes 
every nook and eranny in quest of its morning meal. While hopping about the branches of trees, it gives out 
a sharp two-note whistle, and repeats it for a considerable time, after the manner of its European relative. I 
am not aware whether it has the interesting habit of tapping branches in the same style which must be familiar 
to all who have observed our Great Tit in England during the autumn and winter. No little bird can possess 
a more thoroughly busy and at the same time contented air than this one, when he is diligently working away 
at the branch of some find old apple-tree, making his well-directed blows heard at a considerable distance from 
his perch. '' 
Jerdon says of the Grey Tit, “ it is a very familiar and abundant bird on the Nilghiris, with the usual 
habits of the tribe, entering gardens, and feeding on various small insects and also on seeds.^’ Dr. Armstrong 
observes that it is very active, “ moving from one bush or tree to another, and frequenting alike the highest 
Sonneratia-tvees and the lowest mangroves.’'’ 
Nidification . — In the Central Province this species breeds from March until July. It usually selects a 
hole in some moderately-sized tree, perhaps one which has been cut by a Barbct or a Woodpecker, and at the 
bottom of this retreat forms a large and slovenly nest of moss, feathers, and hair. It lays from four to six 
eggs, broad ovals in shape, pure white, openly spotted with well-defined marks of purplish red, which often 
form a zone round the large end. It often chooses a hole in a bank, and has been known to build on a branch 
of a tree, Mr. Hume citing an instance of a nest so situated in a “ Banj ” tree, 10 feet from the ground. 
This author states that they rear two broods in India, the first in March, the second in June, while in the 
Nilghiris they lay as late as September and October. Miss Cockburn, who has made so many interesting notes 
on the nidification of birds at Kotagherry, remarks that they show great affection and care for their young, 
and that they bite savagely at the hand of an intruder, puffing out their throats and hissing like a snake. The 
average size of a number of eggs taken in India is stated to be 0'71 by 0‘54 inch. 
PASSERES. 
Earn. CEETHIID^. 
Bill variable, either straight or much curved, but al-ways compressed and -with the tip entire. 
Tail variable, rather long in some, with the shafts rigid and pointed, in others short and even at 
the tip. Legs short ; feet very large ; toes in many syndactyle, the hind toe and claw larger than 
the rest. 
Of scansorial or climbing habit. 
Subfam. sitting:. 
Bill straight and rather short. Tail shorter than the wings and even at the tip. 
