in captivity it cannot be trusted with any bird less
powerful than itself. I know of one instance in which
the evidence was all but conclusive of a Great Tit’s
having killed a Long-eared Bat, upon whose brain it
was seen to be busily engaged whilst the body of the
little beast was still warm.
The sites selected by this bird for nesting are
sometimes very remarkable. At Lilford a pair took
possession of a disused iron hand-pump in our kitchen-
garden, and reared a brood in the space between the
junction of the handle with the piston and the top of
the pump, in spite of the constant inspection of visitors,
who removed the said top to look in. On such occasions
the sitting bird only retired into the spout—the
only means of ingress and egress, and would sit therein
hissing and chattering till the top of the apparatus was
replaced. Another pair of this species in 1895 reared
a brood in a large circular Indian leather-bottle, suspended
at about feet from the ground in a coniferous
tree in our flower-garden; the orifice of this vessel is
only just large enough to allow the birds to enter. A
brood of Redstarts were reared in this curious vessel in
the summer of 1894.
This bird may fairly be called omnivorous, for
although its staple diet consists of insects in all stages
of their existence, it is very fond of seeds of many
kinds, and is sure to be amongst the first visitors to
kitchen-scraps thrown down for the birds in severe
weather. I believe that the Great Tit frequently rears
two broods in the year, but in my experience it does
not often use the same nest twice. The nest is composed
of moss, dry grass, wool, hairs, and dead leaves.
I should fix the average number of eggs at from
7 to 10. I have met with the present species in almost
every locality suited to its habits that I have visited in
Europe, and, although not abundant, it frequents the
gardens in the suburbs of Algiers during the winter
months. We also met with it in Cyprus.