THE COLETIT. 
will be most thankfully received. He makes but one stipulation 
—he must have enough. This must be specially looked to, if 
he happens to live loose in an aviary with other birds, for — it 
is a terrible accusation to bring against so pretty a creature — 
the ox-eye tit is a cannibal ! Should the pangs of hunger 
assail him, he will find consolation in the skulls of his comrades. 
Like all of the tit tribe, he has a powerful spear -like beak, and 
he makes terrible use of it. When hungry, he is a perfect little 
demon; and no matter that his companions are bigger and stronger 
than himself, chaffinches, linnets, and canaries, he will mount on 
their backs, cleave their heads asunder with his awful bill, and sup 
on their brains ! Brutal-minded bird-fanciers have been known 
to keep “ fighting tits,” and back them for sums of money to 
slaughter so many sparrows in so long a time, and they have 
been known to kill birds as large as the lark and thrush. Tit 
fighting, however, along with bird blinding, and other monstrous 
practices of a kindred nature, is, I am happy to say, fast 
disappearing. 
The best cage for the ox-eye, indeed for all kinds of tits, is 
the bell- shaped, and constructed entirely of wire. Their song 
is by no means to be despised, for though it is not loud it is 
very melodious and varied. They have a capacity for learning 
the notes of other birds, and with patience and good victuals 
may be taught to perform almost as many tricks as the bull- 
finch. 
The Coletit.— This lively little creature is smaller than the 
last-mentioned, and not so varied in its plumage ; indeed, with 
the exception of its vividly 
marked piebald head and neck, 
it is as soberly attired as a 
sparrow. Like the rest of the 
tit tribe, it seems utterly in- 
different as to the situation of 
its nest. I have seen a coletit’s 
nest taken from a hole at the 
foot of a tree, and have heard 
birdcatchers say that deserted 
molehills are much patronized 
by coletits in search of a building site. The ne&fc is not at all 
a neat affair ; indeed, it is so loosely put together that it is 
impossible to take it up' entire. They lay from six to nine 
eggs, of a dazzling white ground dotted with bright red spots. 
It sings but indifferently ; indeed, it can be scarcely called a 
iso 
