There must be few of us who have not noticed this charming little bird when we are walking in winter along a hedgerow. We are attracted by a high-pitched “zi-zit” as the bird darts from the hedge in front of us, and after a few yards of undulating flight settles again. It is not alone, for another and yet another Tit follows till the whole family party are busy at work hopping and creeping about the hedge. Shortly the whole proceeding takes place again, the family procession moving on to search for food in a new spot. All this goes on daily during the winter months; up one hedgerow, down another; now hopping up a tree, occasionally visiting a small wood, ever on the move, and ever restless, till the evening comes, when the little party gather to rest, sitting close to each other on some slender bough. In April, however, this roving life ends. The cock bird seeks a mate and they proceed to make a summer home, sometimes in an open hedgerow, but more often in the hedge bordering a wood, or in some isolated bush in the wood itself. It would be difficult to imagine anything more beautiful than their nest, which is perhaps the most elaborate of any of our British Birds! It is a solid thick-walled elliptical mass of felted moss completely covered externally with lichens, which are largely interwoven by means of cobwebs. The entrance, for it is entirely covered in, is towards the upper end, and the interior is lined with horsehair and innumerable feathers, as many as seven hundred having been counted in a single nest. LONG-TAILED TIT The full complement of eggs is at least ten, and two broods are often reared in a season. This species is entirely insectivorous and less destructive to the buds of fruit-trees than any other kind of Tit, so that no one can have any excuse for destroying this beautiful little bird that does so much to brighten our hedgerows during the dull months of winter. The sexes are alike. The forehead and crown are white, bordered by a dark stripe, which runs from the bill over the eye to join the black of the nape and back. Wings dark brown; scapulars and rump pinkish; tail feathers black, the three outer pairs broadly tipped and margined with white. Under parts dull white and tinged with pink on the flanks and belly. The young are duller. Length 5·5 in.; wing 2·4 in. Continental specimens are said to be distinguishable from our native birds. It is common throughout our islands except in Scotland, where it is somewhat local. |