The little Blue Titmouse is 
one of the most familiar birds of 
England, as it is widely spread 
throughout the land, and is of so 
oold a nature that it exhibits itself 
fearlessly to any observer. 
In many of its habits it resem- 
bles the last-mentioned species, but 
it nevertheless possesses a very 
marked character, and has peculi- 
arities which are all its own. As 
it trips glancingly over the branches 
it hardly looks like a bird, for its 
quick limbs, and strong claws carry 
it over the twigs with such rapidity 
that it resembles a blue mouse 
rather than one of the feathered 
tribe. Being almost exclusively an insect-eating bird, and a most voracious little 
creature, it renders invaluable service to the agriculturist and the gardener by 
discovering and destroying the insects which crowd upon the trees and plants in 
the early days of spring, and which, if not removed, would effectually injure a very 
large proportion of the fruit and produce. In the course of a single day a pair of 
blue Titmice were seen to visit their nest four hundred and seventy-five times, 
never bringing less than one large caterpillar, and generally two or three small 
ones. These birds, therefore, destroyed, on the average, upwards of five hundred 
caterpillars daily, being a minimum of fifteen thousand during the few weeks 
employed in rearing their young. 
While searching for insects, the Blue Titmouse often bites away the buds of 
fruit trees, together with pears and apples, but in almost every case it seeks to 
devour, not the fruit, but a maggot which lies concealed within it, and which, if 
not destroyed, would not only injure the particular fruit, but would also destroy 
many others by means of its future progeny. The food of this bird is of a most 
multifarious character, for the Blue Titmouse has been known to eat eggs, other 
birds which it kills when young or disabled, meat of various kinds, for which it 
always haunts the knackers' yards and country slaughter-houses, peas, oats, and 
the various kinds of food which are to be found in farmyards. So fond is it of 
fat meat, that a piece of beef-suet is a bait which always succeeds in attracting the 
Titmouse into the jaws of the trap. It has even been known to peck holes in 
hens' eggs, for the purpose of eating the contents ; but on account of the large 
size of the eggs, it was not able to attain its purpose. I have even seen the Tit- 
mice unite against a tame hawk which I kept, assault him, and carry off the piece 
of meat \Yhich had just been given to him. 
98 
BLUE TITMOUSE . — JParus ccerueus . 
