B L U E T I T.
PARUS CMRULEU8.
Tuts active memlier of tlio Tit family appears coiumim in aiost parts of Great Britain. I hnve no record
among my notes of having observed this species in I he I lebrides; so 1 conclude that, if fi d al all, ii is far
from numerous in those barren islands. As far north as Koss-shire it is plentiful in most wooded districts,
the specimens in my collection having been obtained in a plantation on the cast const, near Xigg.
The Blue Tit is a most courageous little bird, the female generally resenting an approach to her nest
to the utmost of her ability, and occasionally attacking the intruder with the greatest ferocity. The pair that
I reipjired as specimens, together with their brood (who wen'just in the act of leaving the old stump in which
they had been hatched), were all captured by means of a butter fly-net, the parents refusing to desert their
I t is an open question whether this species is so injurious to the buds of fmit-trccs as some gardeners
would have us believe. At all events, the damage they inflict at one lime is amply compensated tor by the
immense number of insects they destroy when providing for the requirements of their brood.
Like most others of their family, this species, in order to rear its young, resorts to holes in Irors, walls,
old buildings, and other similar localities. Numerous quaint situations have come under my observation,
perhaps the strangest (owing to constant traffic) being a hole in one of the iron lamp-posts in the Mont pell ior
ltoad, in Brighton. If I remember right, the bird made use of this massive cradle for several years, and
safely brought out its brood.
I n winter these birds collect in flocks numbering from three or four to n dozen or more. They may
commonly be met with frequenting the reed-beds in the eastern counties. I have on several occasions noticed a
party join company with Bearded Tits, the two species intermingling while climbing among the stems of the
reeds. The partnership, however, would not last long; on being disturbed the Bearded Tits would take a short
flight and then drop into the thickest cover, while their visitors, mounting, in the air, would betake themselves
to fresh quarters. An immense quantity of insect life is to be found among the stems of the reeds during
whiter; and this abundance of food accounts for the presence of these birds in such localities at this season.
Early in November 1SS1, while sheltering from a storm of wand and rain in a beet shed which was newly
thatched with fresh-cut reed, I noticed that large numbers of caterpillars dropped down from the roof soon
after we entered. The smoke from a couple of pipes appeared to disagree with the Insects, and they fell down
in hundreds. The extensive reed-beds that surround some of the larger broads must contain uu endless supply
of food for iuscet-eathig birds; and it is strange that some other members of the Titmouse family have not
discovered the fact.