45 2 
PERCHING BIRDS. 
by ornithologists to represent the type of a genus including several other species. 
Distinguished from the true tits by the presence of a crest on the head, the members 
of the genus differ from an allied group of crested tits (Macrolophus) by the tail 
being square or slightly forked, whereas in the latter it is rounded. Moreover, the 
black abdominal band, found in the last-named genus, is wanting in the present 
one. The home of the crested tit must be sought in large pine-forests, or extensive 
stretches of beech-wood and mixed timber. It is a shy and retiring species, not 
courting observation like many of its cousins, but shunning the haunts of men even 
in winter. In the spring we have met with it in small droves, in pairs, and even 
singly. Though shy and timid, if conscious of being pursued, the crested tit when 
left alone often allows a quiet observer to enjoy a close inspection of its plumage, 
and the pale grey crest, jet-black throat, and huffish under-parts form a pleasing 
harmony of colour. It has rather a knack of perching overhead, especially if the 
observer be riding, probably impelled to the survey by curiosity. Anyone who has 
trained his ear to recognise the cries of birds, will soon become familiar with the 
liquid call-note, prrit or chrrit, which may often be heard before the tiny musician 
has revealed its whereabouts. The crested tit has a pretty little song, generally 
uttered when a male bird is playfully pursuing one of his companions in mock 
anger. Mr. C. Thusnall says: “ I have generally seen them in the top boughs of 
the firs, but they frequently come on to the ground, apparently to pick up a seed 
that may drop from the fir-cones; at anyrate, you see them fly down, look in the 
grass, and fly up again immediately. They appear to remain in families, as you 
seldom see a single one. As a rule, they prefer the rotten stem of a fir, about 
twelve or fourteen feet high, and bore a hole in the tree from two feet to eight feet 
above the ground. I have also found the nest in old stumps of very large trees within 
six inches of the ground. Their nidification is therefore more like that of the coal- 
tit in that respect.” In Rhenish Prussia, the crested tit lays in the deserted nests 
of the crow, magpie, or squirrel, as well as in hollow trees; the nest being made 
of moss, wool and feathers. The eggs are white, spotted all over with bright red. 
When the pairing-season is over, the crested tits band together with tree-creepers, 
goldcrests and other tits, and scour the woods in search of food; the crested tits 
leading the van. They do not work the branches as minutely as other tits, 
preferring to range more widely. 
The crested tit possesses an elongated crest, often raised; the forehead and 
sides of the head are white, mottled slightly with grey, the feathers of the crown 
black, edged with white, the cheeks and sides of the head white, the throat deep 
black. The upper-parts are greyish brown, so that the bird appears sombre upon 
the wing; the lower-parts are fulvous. 
T m Agreeing with the true tits in the absence of a head-crest, 
Long-Tailed Tits. ® ® . ’ 
the long-tailed tits, as represented by the European species, are 
sufficiently distinguished by the elongation of the appendage from which they take 
their name. We select for illustration the white-headed long-tailed tit (Acredala 
caudata), as being the type of the genus. Inhabiting the northern districts of 
Europe, and occurring also in many parts of Germany, its range somewhat overlaps 
that of the form termed the British long-tailed tit. The species under consideration 
is a tolerably common and well-known bird throughout the whole of' Switzerland, 
