I do, the hand of protection to be held out to this very interesting species. That it is nearly omnivorous
and certainly carnivorous we have abundant proofs; for it will pick a chicken-bone as clean as
a parrot would, and will strive for mastery over all birds weaker than itself, and, if successful, will.kill and
eat them, o r a t .least that most vital p art the brain. Young birds fall an easy prey to i t ; and many
are the instances recorded o f its depredations among them. I f placed in a cage with other small birds,
it almost invariably kills th em ; and sometimes weak individuals o f its own species have fallen victims.
I f shot at and only wounded, it fights and defends itself with the spirit and boldness o f an ancient
Spartan.
“ Its food,” says Macgillivray, “ consists o f insects, pupae, larvae, buds and seeds of various kinds, in search
of which it sometimes betakes itself to the ground. It is chiefly on trees, however, that it is to be seen; and
tbere it hops and skips with great alacrity, manifesting a constant cheerfulness, standing and hanging in
every variety o f position, and continually fluttering about in search o f food in the crevices o f the bark, and
among the buds and leaves. Its flight is usually short, being merely from tree to tree, and is performed by
a continuous flutter of the wings ; but when necessary it can accomplish an extended excursion, and then flies
with considerable undulation. It is not particularly shy, but may be easily approached within shot, although
it is rather more observant of intruders upon its haunts than the other species of the genus, which are remarkably
inattentive to appearances o f danger.”
The sites chosen for nidification are extremely various, and often very singular; for although the
natural places for this purpose are a hole in a tree, a crevice in a rock, or an opening in a wall, it freely
enters a deserted room, and has been known to pass through a hole in a cupboard and make its nest on one
of the shelves; if a flower-pot be turned topsy-turvy, it is ju st as likely to select the interior for the situation
of its future nest. Such sites, and the story of the pump, have been many times recorded in ornithological
works : and I am sure they are all tru e ; for I have myself seen a Tit’s nest in the box and close to the
piston-rod of a constantly used pump, the female sitting on which allowed the top to be taken off
without evincing fear or distrust, that I might have an opportunity o f witnessing the fact. This occurred
a t Preston Hall, in Ken t; and the keeper in whose garden the pump was situated told me it was the
third time the bird had nested there, and that two broods had been hatched in this remarkable situation.
I have also frequently seen the Great T its build within the deserted nests o f the Jay, Magpie, and other
large birds.
The sexes o f the Great T it are similarly coloured; but the markings o f the female are somewhat
less bold, and her tints are not quite so bright. The young, when leaving the nest, although bearing a general
resemblance to the adults, have the white of the cheeks strongly tinged with yellow, as is the case with
the young o f the Coal and Blue Tits, but not of the Marsh-Tit, which belongs to another section of the
Paridcb— the one to which the generic term Poecile has been given.
The eggs are six o r eight in number, very beautifully spotted with red on a white ground, and
so nearly resemble those o f the Nuthatch as not to be easily distinguished. The nest is sometimes
composed of a quantity o f compacted moss, feathers, hair, and other materials, but more generally of
thickly matted rabbit-hair and wool, intermingled with green moss.
The Plate represents a male and a female, of the natural size, on a branch of a species o f poplar,
gathered when it was loaded with catkins, in Ravensbury Park, the seat of G. P. Bidder, Esq., at Mitcham.